The Sree Dharma Sastha Temple of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala has been closed on Tuesday after the day-long ‘Chithira Aattavisheshom’ celebrations.
The Tantri, Kandararu Rajeevararu, performed the ‘padipooja’ after the ‘deeparadhana’ before locking the doors of the temple.The Melsanthi, A.V.Unnikrishnan Namboodiri, closed the sanctum sanctorum, singing the sacred lullaby ‘Harivarasanam, viswamohanom.... ‘, at 7 pm on Tuesday.
Hundreds of Hindu activists, who have been camping at the holy hillock and surrounding forest areas since two days too descended the hills later.
The temple, which was opened for the monthly rituals on Monday evening, witnessed protests from right-wing activists over allowing women of menstruating age inside the temple. State BJP leaders K. Surendran and M.T. Ramesh; Hindu Aikyavedi State president K.P. Sasikala; and RSS State leaders J. Nandakumar and Valsan Tillankery were among those who were camping at Sabarimala on Monday.
A 1,300-strong police force headed by Ajay Yadav, Additional Director General of Police, and Rahul R. Nair, and Sanjaykumar Garudin, Superintendents of Police, were keeping vigil at Pampa and Nilackal since Monday morning. For the first time, 15 women police officers — all aged above 50 years — were deployed on the temple premises.
Despite prohibitory orders and heavy police protection, tension prevailed on Tuesday morning when protesters mobbed two women who had come to the temple with their husbands and grandchildren. Protesters were demanding “proof” even as the Police tried to assuage them by insisting the women were above 50 years of age. In the melee, one of the women felt faint, and law enforcers admitted her to a nearby infirmary. Later, at the instance of the police, they allowed the woman to proceed amidst jeers and boos.
Persons wearing “Save Sabarimala” headbands attempted to bully two women journalists who were working four kilometres downhill at Pampa. The protesters also browbeat male journalists and camera persons at the sanctum and demanded that they broadcast only their version of events.
