SABARIMALA: “When I was studying in class two, I visited the holy hill shrine for the first time along with my father. Now I’m a 53-year-old mother. I waited nearly 45 years to revisit this holy place. If the Supreme Court came up with an order allowing women of all ages to Sabarimala, what about people like us? They are doing injustice to us. The Sabarimala has its own custom, and we waited for such a long period to preserve it by maintaining its sanctity. How can they change all the customs?” asked Kalyani, a devotee who came from Palakkad to participate in the monthly pooja.
The likes of Kalyani are upset about the SC order, which allows the entry of women below 50. “The Sabarimala temple has its own rituals and they should not be maligned at any cost. If we could wait all these years to come here, these women should also wait. It’s not about the right or equality of the women. We enjoy all the rights. We are supposed to follow and respect certain rituals as per our culture. We are really unsatisfied with the SC verdict and the alacrity of these women to enter the holy shrine,” said a 57-year-old woman devotee, while waiting at Malikappuram to see the Malikappuram Melsanthi.
Though the holy hill shrine remained calm, the arrival of women below 50 at the hill shrine caused tension among the devotees. On Sunday, Balamma, a 47-year-old woman from Andhra Pradesh, tried to enter the hill shrine. But the devotees stopped her from the Nadapanthal by chanting Swamiye Saranamayyappa.
“We don’’t have the right to tell the women not to enter the holy shrine. But the rituals should be preserved. I will personally ask the women not to visit Sabarimala if they are under 50,” said Prasanna, wife of Sabarimala Melsanthi AV Unnikrishnan, who came to visit.
The devotees, who have reached here, are requesting the women aged below 50 to abstain from visiting the hill shrine. “We are coming here from distant places to see a glimpse of the Lord Ayyappa. The attempt by certain women to enter the shrine will only lead to tension and will affect other devotees who come here after taking the ritualistic month-long fast,” said a senior devotee from Andhra Pradesh.