After Trimbakeshwar, Baba Balaknath temple opens its doors for women

A woman devotee with her two daughters entered the cave of Baba Balaknath temple at Deot Siddh in Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh and performed 'puja', breaking centuries old traditon of women not entering the cave.

Earlier, women would not enter the cave as Baba Balaknath believed to be an incarnation of Kartikeya, elder son of lord Shiva is considered to be a bachelor and women used to offer worship at a platform few metres away from the cave.

But the temple authorities had clarified on April 16 that there was no bar on women entering the cave but in spite of that, women were not entering the cave and abiding by the old tradition.

The woman along with her two daughters entered the cave in the presence of priests and performed 'puja' on Saturday.

The temple is under the control of the state government. Temple officials confirmed the incident and said "as there is no ban on women entering the cave, they have the right to offer worship by entering the cave."