Sabarimala entry ‘women’s right’

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 18 

“What applies to a man, applies to a woman also.” This is what the Supreme Court said on Wednesday during a hearing on petitions challenging restriction on entry of women of menstruating age into Sabarimala Temple in Kerala.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said women had the constitutional right to enter the temple and pray like men without being discriminated against. “When a man can enter, a woman can also go. What applies to a man, applies to a woman also,” said the Bench.

“On what basis you (temple authorities) deny the entry? It is against the constitutional mandate. Once you open it for public, anybody can go,” it said.

The Bench is seized of PILs against the age-old tradition of keeping women of menstruating age (10-50 years) out of the famous Sabarimala Ayyappa temple — one of the holiest Hindu shrines — situated on a hilltop in Kerala. The tradition is rooted in the belief that the deity is a celibate (Naisthik Brahmachari).

The Kerala Government and Travancore Devaswam Board that manages the temple had supported the restriction. But the government later changed its stand and supported the petitioner. The hearing would continue on Thursday.