Sabarimala: Two women devotees, below the age of 50, on Wednesday managed to enter the Lord Ayyappa temple here. It is for the first time, after the September 28 Supreme Court verdict allowed entry of women of all ages into the hillock temple, women actually got the chance of darshanam.
The women, identified as Ms Bindu from Koilandy and Ms Kanaga Durga from Angadippuram in Malappuram entered the temple accompanied by the police officials from Pamba to Sannidanam and ensured their Darshan at 0330 hrs.
Talking to newspersons over phone after Darshan, Bindu said that she and Kanaga Durga reached Pamba at 0100 hrs and sought the police protection for their trekking.
Meanwhile, Chief Priest Kandararu Rajeevaru said he was not aware of the entry of young women and will discuss the matter with officials of Travancore Devaswom Board.
"I came to know the reports and visuals in this regard from TV channels. We don't know whether they entered the Sanctum Sanctorum," he added.
Unconfirmed reports say the women with the police in ordinary clothes did not use the traditional trekking path to enter ‘Sannidanam’.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Police also confirmed the entry of women into the temple early this morning. This is to be noted that the same two women were sent back on December 24 following amid protest from devotees. They were stopped at ‘Marakkuttam’ and sent back on that day following strong protest from devotees of other States including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
In November, when a group of women began trekking from Pamba, the Tantri said the temple will be closed if the customs are violated. Following their entry, the temple was shut and a ‘purification’ ritual was performed.
The shrine reopened at noon.
Two women below 50 enter Sabarimala, ensured darshan
The temple was shut down after the women’s entry for ‘purification rituals’
