The Supreme Court questioned the chief priest of the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple regarding the constitutionality of preventing believers from touching the deity, during hearings on discrimination against women at religious sites.
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.
The police said the women were told that it would be difficult to provide protection to them till the shrine as there was a possibility of protests.
Swami Sandeepananda Giri had welcomed the apex court order permitting women in the 10-50 age group to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
Six women were prevented from entering the Sabarimala temple Sunday by a large number of devotees.
'The Supreme Court should not have come out with this kind of order and in my opinion, the court should correct it.'
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made it clear that the Left government was with the believers.
The BJP chief condemned the arrest of over 2,000 devotees, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Sangh Parivar activists, across the state agitating against the entry of women of all ages into the temple.
This was also part of the right to privacy of the deity, the lawyer said.
Bindu from Malappuram and Durga of Kozhikode were trying hard to become part of history by trying to enter the shrine under heavy police protection.
The BJP/Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and right wing outfits have made it clear that they would not allow any woman in the 10-50 age group to offer prayers at the shrine, where the deity is 'Naishtika Brahmachari' (perennial celibate).
The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Thursday its verdicts on a batch of petitions seeking re-examination of its decision to allow entry of women of all age group in Kerala's Sabarimala Temple and a review of its judgment giving a clean chit to the Modi government in the Rafale fighter jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation.
