The woman showed her Aadhaar card to them to prove that she did not belong to the 'traditionally barred' age group of 10-50 years.
Earlier, two women devotees could not proceed to the shrine after protesters forced them to return. Protesters pelted police with stones and the latter hit right back with vengeance wielding batons with telling effect, leaving many fallen and writhing in pain on the road.
Bindu Ammini was attacked by the member of a Hindu outfit using pepper or chilli spray outside the police commissionerate.
The Left government in Kerala on Thursday withdrew a handbook for police personnel on duty at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala after the Bharatiya Janata Party raised a hue and cry over a mention in the book that all pilgrims can enter the temple.
Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the shrine, said revenue collection on the opening day registered a growth of Rs 1.28 crore compared to last year.
The temple, which opened for the monthly puja on Friday evening, will allow pilgrims to offer prayers till October 21.
Accompanied by police personnel, the members of Chennai-based women empowerment outfit 'Manithi' could barely move 100 metres through the traditional forest path towards the temple when hundreds of devotees rushed down to the valley to chase them away.
The Kerala government dubbed Desai's attempt to visit Sabarimala as a 'conspiracy'.
The Sabarimala Karma Samiti, a platform of right-wing outfits, including VHP, appealed to media houses not to depute women journalists in the menstrual age group to cover the developments in Sabarimala.
"The TDB is for resolving the issue and there is no politics for the board..."
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed women of all ages in the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Kerala. While Justices R F Nariman and D Y Chandrachud concurred with Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar on the ruling that banning the entry of women in the temple is gender discrimination and the practice violates the rights of Hindu women, Justice Indu Malhotra gave a dissenting verdict. Here are highlights of her judgment.
'Today is the Constitution Day and on this day, we will go to Sabarimala temple as it is our right'
'Had their blood fallen on the floor of the temple, that would have forced the priests to shut the shrine for three days for purification rituals'
The five-judge Constitution bench said that it is the devotion which makes a woman to visit a temple.
The Bharatiya Janata Party lined up several promises, including a legislation to protect traditions of the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala and a law against "love jihad", while assuring employment for at least one person from each family and free laptops to high school students, in its manifesto for the assembly polls unveiled in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
'So far we have paid our salaries and pension in full because we had some reserve fund.' 'But we cannot afford to do so for more than another three months.'
After several women were prevented from entering the Sabarimala shrine after the Supreme Court verdict upheld their right to do so, Bindu and Kanakadurga managed the seemingly impossible. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com finds out how they did it.
Meena said political parties should be responsible enough to decide to what extent they should use the Sabarimala issue during the campaign.
''This chief minister is so obstinate that he is ready to use the police to attain his goal.' 'Had he been more mature rather than obstinate, Kerala would not have reached a boiling point.'
Though the government was for maintaining equal status for men and women, a separate season for women was necessary in view of the practical difficulties in providing facilities for women, when lakhs of devotees converge there during the pilgrimage season between November and January, it said.
Sporadic violence marked the 'hartal' called by Hindu right groups in Kerala over Wednesday's police action against those opposing entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.
Sabarimala Special Commissioner Rajendra Nair said a jeep had ploughed through the pilgrims, who were returning from 'makara samkrama pooja', using a narrow trekking path in a heavily forested hilly area, about 7km from Sabarimala hilltop shrine.
The director general of police said everyone in the force should have to perform their duties irrespective of their religion and politics.
Sooraj, hailing from Elanthur in Pathanamthitta district, was one of the main accused in the incident which took place on Tuesday when the hill shrine was opened for the two-day-long "Chithira Atta Thirunal," a special ritual.
A BSNL spokesperson said Fathima was suspended from service in view of the police investigation against her.
Lalitha's entry into the holy shrine was opposed by protesters suspecting that she belonged to the age group of 10-50. However, she was allowed to enter after verification under police protection.
'Because of the Supreme Court judgment, I am being denied my freedom of religion.'
Braving threats from conservatives and the tough terrains of the hillock, K B Valsala Kumari, then collector of Pathanamthitta district, visited the temple complex at least four times during 1994-95.
Considering the heavy rush to the hill shrine since last weekend, the police and security contingent deployed for crowd management will be strengthened in the coming days, official sources said in Sabarimala on Monday.
The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon.
Police said the tantri came in person to give the second complaint to the Central Police Circle Inspector. The police have registered the second complaint.
CM Pinnarayi Vijayan said 'deliberate' efforts were being made to destroy the state's unity and secular fabric.
Sabarimala temple authorities decided to regulate presence of women of menstrual age in and around River Pampa during the aarattu (ritualistic bath) ceremony on March 23.
After a review meeting held at the Pathanamthitta District Collectorate to assess the situation, Rajan and state health minister Veena George said at a press conference that it has been decided to open the Kakki dam to release around 100-200 cumex water which would increase the water level of Pampa river by around 15 centimetres.
A 12-hour hartal is being observed against the preventive detention of a Hindu Aikya Vedi leader.
The figure assumes significance as the Sabarimala temple had witnessed frenzied devotees opposing the entry of women belonging to the menstrual-age in the wake of landmark Supreme Court verdict permitting women of all ages to offer prayers at the hill shrine.
801 cases have been registered in connection with violent protests which were witnessed during the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by pro-Hindu outfits on Thursday, police said, adding that 717 people are now in preventive custody.
The women devotees were surrounded by a large number of protesters after they crossed the base camp to begin the trek towards the hill shrine.
"All the review petitions along with all pending applications will be heard in open court on 22nd January, 2019, before the appropriate Bench. We make it clear that there is no stay of the judgment and order of this Court dated 28th September, 2018 passed in Writ Petition (Civil) No.373 of 2006 (Indian Young Lawyers Association & Ors. vs. The State of Kerala & Ors)," the order said.
The apex court said banning entry of women to Kerala's Sabrimala temple is gender discrimination and the practice violates rights of Hindu women.
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