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.
At least 102 Sabarimala devotees were killed and 50 injured in a stampede when a jeep crashed into homebound pilgrims at Pulmedu in Kerala's Idukki district, in the worst tragedy to strike the worshippers of the famed shrine in a decade.
It is the first annual pilgrimage season at the hill temple after the coronavirus outbreak and authorities have decided to restrict the number of devotees to 1,000 per day and to 2,000 on weekends.
The state govt said that celibate status of deity cannot be a ground for barring entry of women.
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.
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.
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.
The top court said the old practices of "human sacrifices" and 'sati' amounted to murder under law and could not be saved on ground of "essential religious practice".
On the last date of hearing, the Maharashtra police had produced additional letters to establish Moist links of the arrested accused even as the petitioners described it as cooked-up evidence.
Sivadasan's family has demanded a probe into his death.
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'.
The Lok Sabha contest in Thiruvananthapuram is shaping up to be a significant battle involving key candidates like Shashi Tharoor, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and Panniyan Ravindran. This three-cornered fight highlights the political dynamics in Kerala's capital city, with each candidate bringing their own vision and promises for the region's development, notes Rajeev Srinivasan.
Division bench comprising Justice Thottathil Radhakrishnan and P S Gopinathan directed the Police, Forest and Travancore Devaswom board to file reports regarding the reasons for the accident.
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.
However, the number of persons accompanying the VIPs would be restricted.
The Sabarimala hill shrine has received a record revenue of Rs 178.53 crore in 2012-13, Kerala Devaswom (temple affairs) Minister V S Sivakumar told the Assembly today. Though the exact number of pilgrims who visited the Lord Ayyappa temple this year are not available, it is generally estimated that about three crore devotees offer worship at the shrine in a year, the minister said in a written reply.
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.
Ram Charan has left for the US to join M M Keeravaani for the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles on March 12.
Kerala's election discourse operates surreptitiously. Its explicit face focuses on important national and local issues. At the same time, it seeks to secure apt communal equations to ensure votes, notes Shyam G Menon.
Her husband and other relatives had shifted to a rented building, the police said, adding Kanakadurga then took refugee at the One Stop Centre here.
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.
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 right to enter a temple is not dependent on a legislation. It is the constitutional right," the bench said.
Indian Young Lawyers Association and a group of women lawyers have filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Kerala government and the head priest of Sabarimala temple to ensure that women devotees are not denied entry.
A five judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was apparently not in agreement with the argument of the Travancore Devaswom Board running the over 800-year-old Lord Ayyappa temple that the "practice and belief" that have continued uninterrupted cannot be tested on the ground of "modern ethos".
The judges said both the matters were similar involving entry of women in the religious shrines, and hence they would like to see what view would Supreme Court take on the issue before they give a ruling on the interim relief sought by the petitioner in the Bombay high court.
The bench said the review petition can only be taken up after the Dussehra vacation.
What should be made out of the Madras high court order involving non-Hindus' entry into Hindu temples, when many non-Hindus are among the hundreds of thousands that have been worshipping at these temples for generations, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Supreme Court on Friday referred the issue of the practice of excommunication in the Dawoodi Bohra community to a larger nine-judge bench.
The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its verdict on whether to refer the matters pertaining to the ban on entry of women aged between 10 to 50 years at Kerala's Sabrimala temple to its constitution bench.
Desai requested the Dargah's trust to not move the Supreme Court against the HC's judgment.
Denying women the right to enter and pray in the historic Sabarimala temple in Kerala cannot be justified on the basis of traditions which violated constitutional principle, says the SC.
On Easter, April 9, 10,000 BJP workers are being assigned to visit the houses of 100,000 Christian families. Plans are afoot to visit the homes of Muslims on Eid.
Counted as a judge who enriched the 'verdict docket' of the apex court, Justice Chandrachud is viewed as sharp, articulate and forward looking.
Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, however, had no qualms about overturning the judgements of father Y V Chandrachud on hot- button issues like adultery and the right to privacy.
He will take oath on November 9, a day after incumbent CJI Justice Uday Umesh Lalit demits office on attaining the age of 65.
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.
Thursday was the day results from the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections and by-elections in Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh were out, so what were some of our leaders up to?
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances