THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amidst the raging debate over the entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala temple, the Travancore Devaswom Board continues to play hide and seek in the matter.
The board, which had earlier decided to discuss the next step in the issue during the meeting on Tuesday, took a U-turn and informed the media the agenda of the meeting was limited to finalising the tender documents.
Board member KP Sankardas said the ‘recent developments’ had not come up for discussion in the meeting and the agenda was limited to finalising the tender works.
At the same time, it is learnt in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s decision to hear a batch of petitions challenging the verdict allowing women of all age groups entry into the temple on November 13, the board has started consultation with legal experts to decide the next step.
The board, which had earlier rejected devotees’ demand to file a review petition in the apex court, later decided to file a report on the serious developments at Sabarimala. But, it then had a change of mind following the legal opinion that the board cannot submit such a report unless the court asks for the same.
Meanwhile, TDB president A Padmakumar the other day said though the board is not going to file a review petition as it is also a party to the 25 review petitions filed by different persons and organisations, it might have the chance to present its opinions during the scheduled hearing.
Following the court verdict that grants entry of women all ages, the temple had witnessed tension and violence on all the five days during which it was open for the Thulam poojas.
The Sabarimala Ayyappa temple will open for a day for the Sree Chithra Attathirunal on November 5. And then it will be opened for the Mandala Pooja on November 16.