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.
Police had earlier said it was verifying the background of the woman, said to be in her late 30s, and a decision regarding her trekking would be taken on Sunday morning.
Accepting the report of the Food Safety Commissioner, that appam at Sabarimala was unfit for human consumption, the Kerala high court on Tuesday observed there was lack of proper management in the affairs of the Lord Ayyappa shrine.
Amid heated debate on whether Makara jyoti of Lord Ayyappa shrine is celestial or manmade, the chief priest of Sabarimala temple on Sunday said the controversy was generated only to divert attention from the tragedy that killed 102 devotees.
According to custom, only believers of Hinduism are permitted entry at the temple, a major pilgrim centre and tourist attraction in the southern part of the country.
A senior police officer told PTI that they were taken into custody after they had offered prayers.
The five-judge Constitution bench said that it is the devotion which makes a woman to visit a temple.
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.
'Hindu unity is possible without any external forces playing any role if their faith is questioned.'
Four years after her controversial claim of touching Lord Ayyappa's idol in the Sabarimala temple triggered a raging storm, Kerala Police has decided to file a charge sheet against Kannada actress Jaimala, who said she would take legal recourse to uphold her 'innocence'.
Opposition Congress termed the government's decision as 'unilateral' and said it was against the interest of a majority of Ayyappa devotees in and outside the state.
The injured have been admitted to Sannidhanam hospital, Pathnamthitta Collector R Girija said. She said there was a "small stampede" between Sannidhanam and Malikapuram and about 20 persons were injured.
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.
Sivadasan's family has demanded a probe into his death.
However, the woman told police that she was not keen to visit the shrine and admitted that she had come to Pamba following pressure from her husband.
The Kerala police on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against Kannada film actress Jayamala and two others in the case relating to her claim that she had touched the idol of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala temple in her prime youth in violation of the hill shrine's custom, which bars entry for women that fall in the ten to 50 age bracket.
The two dauntless women -- Kanakadurga and Bindu -- aged 44 and 42, stepped into the hallowed precincts guarded by police three months after the Supreme Court's historic judgment
But the 'tantri family' will accept it, Sabarimala head priest Kandararu Rajeevarau said.
'If enough people defy the law and insist on flouting fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution in the name of religion and custom, does that endow a bigoted, unjust demand with merit?', asks Shuma Raha.
This was also part of the right to privacy of the deity, the lawyer said.
The board will decide future action in a meeting soon.
His statement comes in the backdrop of two Kerala women, Bindu and Kanakadurga, in their 40s, entering the temple premises for offering prayers during the early morning hours on Wednesday. They were accompanied by the police personnel.
The saffron party will use Lord Ayyappa the same way it made use of Lord Ram in the north to take away the Nair vote and make electoral inroads in the state.
Six women were prevented from entering the Sabarimala temple Sunday by a large number of devotees.
Prohibitory order under section 144 CrPc banning assembly of four or more people will come into force at Pamba, Nilackal, Elavungal, and Sannidhanam from midnight Saturday till November 6 midnight.
Kerala Union of Working Journalists decided to boycott the press meets called by the BJP after saffron party workers attacked mediapersons.
'The Sabarimala issue is no longer in splendid isolation.'
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.
Temple priest performed a 'purification' ritual for an hour before the doors were opened again.
'I want the Supreme Court to give directions to the government of Kerala that they must give protection to all those women who want to enter Sabarimala.'
Gandhi, however, acknowledged that his opinion is different from that of his party on the "emotional issue" after the Supreme Court last month lifted the ban on entry of women of menstrual age to the hilltop shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Kerala.
This is the third time the temple is opening after the court verdict, though no girl or woman in the previously banned age group could offer prayers so far following stiff resistance by devotees and activists, opposing any change in the temple traditions. The apex court on September 28 lifted the age-old ban on entry of girls and women in the 10-50 age group.
The police, which took the women to safety, said that the duo informed the security forces that they came to Sabarimala without knowing the customs of the temple.
In the plea, one of the women, who had been attacked by her mother-in-law following her entry into the hilltop shrine, has sought security for both the women.
A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices L N Rao and Dinesh Maheshwari said it was only going into the aspect of security of the two women -- Bindu and Kanakadurga, and would not like to entertain any other prayer made in the petition.
'If we do not enter the temple, then history won't be made and all wrong rituals will get continue to be followed.' 'If they resort to violence against women and abuse them, how can they be Ayyappa Swamy's bhakts?'
She was hit on her head by her mother-in-law. She is reportedly stable and has been referred for further tests in the hospital.
'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.'
The Congress chief admitted that his initial position on the Sabarimala issue was different than what it is today.
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.
