Tension gripped Sabarimala for the second day in the last lap of the 41-day Mandalam pilgrim season, with yet another attempt made by two young women to reach the Ayyappa temple under police protection on Monday morning.
The police tried to use force to remove the protesters but had to give up after their numbers swelled.
Bindu and Kanakadurga, from Kozhikode and Malappuram, reached Pampa on a KSRTC bus and started their trek to the holy hillock under police escort by 7 a.m. The police removed protesters on the trekking path using force and escorted the two pilgrims to Marakkoottom by 8.30 a.m.
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Prolonged standoff
For them it was a case of being near yet so far away as they reached within a km of the Ayyappa temple at 9 a.m. Despite the presence of the Rapid Action Force attached to the Central Reserve Police Force on the hilltop the two could not proceed further as protesters blocked their path. After a standoff lasting about three hours, they were escorted back to the foothills by 10.15 am.
Pilgrims returning from the Sannidhanam too started protesting against the women as they crossed Marakkoottom.
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The protesters sat on the trekking path on the Marakkoottom-Sannidhanam Chandranandan Road, blocking their forward movement.
Police in a bind
The police and the Central force deployed at Sannidhanam were in a difficult situation as any use of force would have put hundreds of pilgrims, including elderly women and small children, at huge risk.
Hundreds of pilgrims from different parts of south India blocked the path, raising Ayyappa chants, as the women arrived.
Ms. Bindu and Ms. Kanakadurga said there was no question of retreating from their mission to visit Sabarimala. Ms. Bindu said her mission was to protect the rights of the tribespeople and Dalits. She accused the Tantri (chief priest) of denying the right to worship for young women.
Meanwhile, the Pandalam Palace asked Tantri Kandararu Rajeevararu to take steps to protect the practices at the temple.
The situation took a dramatic turn with the police deciding to take the two women back to Pampa as protests against them mounted.
Weary of the long trek and commotion, Ms. Kanakadurga fainted and the police took her to the wayside. The police used force to remove Ms. Bindu and both of them were taken to Pampa in an emergency rescue vehicle of the Forest Department.
The police escorted them back to Kottayam later.