The devotees, including senior citizens and children, protested against the entry of women of menstrual age group into the hill shrine.
Holding placards bearing pictures of Lord Ayyappa and chanting his hymns, the protesters marched through the busy roads of Kochi, the state's commercial hub, after launching the stir from the famed Shiva temple there.
Velikakathu Shankaran Achuthanandan, popularly known as 'Comrade VS,' heading the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front government, reached the Sabarimala hilltop on Sunday night after a three-hour-long walk along with thousands of pilgrims pouring into the shrine to have a 'darshan' of Lord Ayyappa during the peak pilgrimage season.
The ban on the entry of women at the hill shrine became strict following a directive of the Kerala high court in 1990 on the basis of an affidavit given by the then government in a related case
After the controversy surrounding Kannada actress Jayamala's entry into the Sabarimala temple, a new row has been kicked up by Malayalam actress Meera Jasmine, a Christian, offering prayers at Raja Rajeshwara temple at Taliparamba near Kannur.
The board will decide future action in a meeting soon.
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.
'We will soon come back to Kerala to visit Sabarimala but we will not declare it in advance and come'
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.
The temple board is likely to seek the co-operation of the state government as its own investigative wing had limitations in conducting the probe in a sensitive matter involving inter-state ramifications.
'These atheist people wanted to finish the progress of Sabrimala temple devotees and now they are using this (the Supreme Court verdict) as a weapon to destroy the believers.'
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.
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
As Gogoi took oath, Congress, Left and their allies shouted slogans and staged a walk out from the House.
CM Pinnarayi Vijayan said 'deliberate' efforts were being made to destroy the state's unity and secular fabric.
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.
Rehana Fathima was seeking anticipatory bail in cases against her for allegedly circulating a video in which she was semi-nude, allowing her minor children to paint on her body. The bench said it was a little baffled at the kind of case that has come up before it.
A majority verdict by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices A M Khanwilkar and Indu Malhotra decided to keep pending the pleas seeking a review of its decision regarding the entry of women into the shrine, and said restrictions on women in religious places was not restricted to Sabarimala alone and was prevalent in other religions as well.
He will be the first former Chief Justice of India to be nominated to Rajya Sabha. Former Chief Justice Ranganath Misra was also a Rajya Sabha member but he was elected on a Congress party ticket.
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.
The director general of police said everyone in the force should have to perform their duties irrespective of their religion and politics.
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.
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.
Bindu and Kanakadurga, who broke centuries-old tradition by entering the holy shrine, said there were no objections from the devotees and called those who were protesting riot-mongers.
The SC is dealing with legal and constitutional issues relating to discrimination against women in various religions and at religious places including Kerala's Sabarimala Temple.
The court will consider issues related to entry of Muslim women into mosques, female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community and barring of Parsi women, married to non-Parsi men, from the holy fire place at Agiary.
India and Indians can ignore Pakistan, but that cannot be said of other nations in the neighbourhood, where New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy constantly reverberates. Four of the eight SAARC member-nations are Muslim -- Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The rulers decide the nation's India or anti-India policy in the first two, and street-opinion contributes to the same in the latter two, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
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".
Easwar claimed the allegation was a mere attack from people opposed to his ideology and meant for "political manipulation", and added "I dismiss it".
A 12-hour hartal is being observed against the preventive detention of a Hindu Aikya Vedi leader.
The court noted that several devotees visiting the Jagannath temple in Puri were being harassed.
'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.'
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.
Kerala Devaswom Minister Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the government would not support those who make announcements about entering the hill shrine for the sake of publicity.
Desai requested the Dargah's trust to not move the Supreme Court against the HC's judgment.
Earlier the court had noted that there were 19 review petitions pending in the matter.
A five-judge constitution bench by a ratio of 4:1 had held that women of all age groups should be allowed entry inside Kerala's Sabarimala Temple.
The bench said the review petition can only be taken up after the Dussehra vacation.
'Modi's power rests on the Hindu vote.' 'It is this vote bank that sees the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala as an intrusion into its religious practice and is frothing at the mouth.' 'History shows us the ill-fated consequences of a strong government buckling before street power,' cautions Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
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