The Supreme Court of India took on a case for asking the Sabarimala Temple to allow women between the ages of 10 and 50 to enter the temple. The court decided to overturn that long held tradition in the temple to bar entry for woman in that age group. 

The case caused deep consternation to the people of faith. The only female member of the Supreme Court dissented and opposed the decision. The proponents claimed it as a victory for gender equality and opponents viewed it as a dark day when people of faith in their own houses of worship were not allowed to follow norms that are not hurtful to others. 

It was interesting to note that none of the petitioners were from Kerala and there was no clamoring from the Hindu women who are devotees of Ayyappa to have the temple opened to them. 

It is indeed sad that the activist lawyers who took the case did no due diligence to understand the faith, the temple or even life of Kerala women. They have caused much chaos which was absolutely unnecessary.

 â€œWhen I filed petition in this matter, I was not fully aware of the facts of this case. Further, I am not from Kerala. Justice Indu Malhotra has also said that no petitioner is from Kerala and hence petitioners cannot give a real picture of the case.

I think she is right because after I filed the case I received a letter from a woman devotee. The devotee told me that there are many Lord Ayyappa temples in Kerala where women are allowed to enter and can worship.

Further, there are women priests also in Kerala. Importantly, she told that women in Kerala are themselves not interested in entering the temple so why was I taking the initiative for them?

I then did some study and felt that I might have unintentionally hurt the sentiments of the devotees there. I realized that I was wrong. I came to know about many facts at a later stage. In fact I wanted to withdraw my petition but was not able to do so”

The work of the activists who put no effort to understand the issue, and conflate issues definitely causes a lot of pain.  It is often seen that most supporters of the decision are people who are not Lord Ayyappa’s devotees. 

Here is my humble attempt to shed some light on Sabarimala and welcome all people who want to worship Lord Ayyappa to perform the poojas. 

 

No. Only women who are in their prime are not allowed into the temple.  So this debunks this being a case for gender equality. My own grandmother has visited the temple. 

Any place of faith is not a museum.  It is particularly true of Hindu temples where the Deities are living entities. The tales, traditions and the prayers at the temple are what make a temple. Without the story of how the Deity got to be in the temple and without valuing the traditions, the place itself will have no meaning. Amongst the many tales of Swami Ayyappa in Sabarimala, there is one of love where He is supposed to have promised Malikapurathamma who loved Him that He will come and wed Her when no new devotees will come to see Him at Sabarimala. As a celibate promised to someone else, He does not see women of the marriageable age.  There is a temple dedicated to Malikapurathamma on Sabarimala.  While some may say it is a silly story, for people of faith it is the stories that add to the faith. 

In Kerala there are several Ayyappa temples and in them there is no such tale associated with the temple. Thus women are allowed inside. In this particular case it is not a question of discrimination against women and hence the case is faulty to begin with.  

The Sabarimala temple is not open through out the year. People who want to go to the temple have certain strict Poojas they need to undertake. There is a 40 day Pooja, called Mandala Pooja which requires you to do extensive Poojas every day. During the period there are a lot of restrictions including not sleeping on a bed. The hills are supposed to be climbed barefoot. In the old days people camped in the forest along the way. Even today, the prayers at any Ayyapan temple describes the difficult journey. The words “Kallum Mullum Kaluku Metthai” meaning the stones and thorns are a bed for my feet are repeated often to keep the faithful inspired to make the journey.  In most traditions of faith women are not allowed to pray during menstruation and thus the 40 day Mandala Pooja will not be possible for the women in their prime to follow.  Should we be changing the idea that women cannot perform prayers during menstruation? Yes we can, but it should come from women of faith who would like to do this and not by a court order.

For the court to use its powers to impact the traditions of a private institution is wrong.  It is the equivalent of the court telling you what you can do in your house. Over 84% of the world's population is people of faith and often the traditions of the house of worship will look strange to others not familiar with the faith. No one has the right to tell people of other faiths how to live their lives unless it causes harm. 

In Kerala, particularly, even today in many temples, men are not allowed inside the temple with pants. In Gurdwaras all are required to cover their heads. Taking off the slippers is expected at almost all Indian places of worship.  Can a court change these things? 

Human beings are generally wired to love traditions. Without traditions life is boring. Sometime in all human beings life, pain comes. It is the one thing that is common to all human beings. Over centuries faith has served as a great healer for humanity at large and potentially will continue to so for centuries to come. 

We absolutely must make changes in temples to keep up with the changing times.  Change is constantly happening in traditions.  But that change must be initiated by the faithful who care about the places of worship, not by activists who do things to get attention.  Definitely not by the court.

If women devotees want to go see the great Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala, they should work with the keepers of the tradition to see what can be done. It should be only changed by devotees and not by random people who do not understand the tradition and think of it as a gender inequality thing. 

My personal experience shows that if it comes from a place of devotion they absolutely will.   I was accepted as a female Ritvik to be at the opening of the Sai Temple in Groton, MA. I had indeed a wonderful time with my fellow Ritviks and the Priests who were traditionalists.  Spiritual people are some of the most wonderful people in the world. But we need to go there with a sense of humility and not arrogance, with a genuine desire to pray and not just to make a point. 

Absolutely. Men, women and children are welcome. There are many Poojas happening in the different temples. Check out the Kalikamabal Temple where the prayers happen every Sunday in the month of November, December and the first two weekends in January. 

Gender inequality exists in India and around the world. We need to work hard to change that. This verdict does nothing to help with that.  For example I would argue that we need to have more women judges on the Supreme Court.  It would have been good for these women lawyers who petitioned to work on that.  We need infrastructure to support women going into higher education, starting companies, etc. It would be good for people to work in areas that they understand to bring gender inequality. 

In New England, the opportunities are endless.  There is so much to study. Thanks to the amazing work by many organizations like the Ramakrishna Mission, the Vedas are easily accessible. The Mantrapushpam by the Ramakrishna Math has the Suktams beautifully and accurately written with the intonations. The temples are always looking for volunteers.  You can serve Lord Ayyappa in the many temples in New England. 

Being a female Ritvik and Priest and has been a most special experience for me and for those woman who want to pursue this the opportunities are tremendous in New England.