Our Bureau
With the Sabarimala hill shrine closing down on Monday after the monthly rituals, the State government and the Devaswom Board (temple administration) will be able to heave a collective sigh of relief.
However, the temple will reopen for monthly rituals on November 5 and close the next day, only to resume on November 16 for the annual Mandala Puja that will last until December 27.
The opening of the temple on October 17 the first time after the Supreme Court ordered that women of all ages be allowed inside, had seen the shrine of Lord Ayyappa and the surrounding holy hillock slip under the tightest security cover ever.
CLIMB BIDS BLOCKED
Passions ran high with stray attempts by women of restricted age between 9 and 50, surrounded by a tight police cordon, to scale the steep climb but finding spirited resistance by hundreds of chanting devotees.
This continued even on Monday when a woman form Kozhikode was sought to be escorted by the police but stopped on the way by devotees. The police managed to prevent a potential law and order situation after advising the woman to return.
Devotees in their hundreds also forced four other women from Andhra Pradesh after they ventured up to Neelimalai, midway into the arduous pilgrim trek. Given this, closure of the shrine would be a godsend for the government and the Devasom Board.
And the Board proposes to use this ‘cool-off period’ to revisit the Supreme Court order with review petitions pending already. So filing another petition will be futile exercise, according to A Padmakumar, President of the Board.
STATUS UPDATE REPORT
Instead, the Board is thinking of filing a ‘status update’ explaining the situation on ground after the temple opened for the first time after the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict.
It has already started gathering expert views, including from the best legal luminaries, in the matter and would likely decide on how to present its case in the Supreme Court, Padmakumar said.
“The Board is now engaging its standing counsels in the High Court of Kerala. It will intervene decisively in the matter, and, unlike its initial posturing, will now seek to conserving the tradition and rituals associated with the shrine,” he added.
A meeting of the board to be held on Tuesday would decide on the contents of the status update, including whether to incorporate the views of the Tantri (high priest) family and the Pandalam palace.
(E.o.m.)