Chaos gripped the Sabarimala Sannidhanam for about 20 minutes on Monday evening following rumours that an unidentified young woman activist, disguised as a man, was spotted at the Ayyappa temple.
The rumour spread while the Padipuja at the 18 steps leading to the temple was in progress. A posse of Sabarimala Protection Council activists, who have been keeping vigil against women in the 10-50 year age group from entering the hillock, rushed to the temple premises. They formed a human chain around the temple complex and tried to find the woman. The police and the devaswom guards then searched the temple premises to disprove the rumour.
There were also rumours of an entry by young woman activists to the temple precincts during the Padipuja or the Harivarasanam rendering in the evening.
Earlier, an uneasy calm prevailed at the hillock and in the foothills of Pampa on the last day of the monthly rituals at the Ayyappa temple here on Monday. Almost all mainstream television crew left Sabarimala and Pampa early in the Monday, fearing attack from Sangh Parivar members who reportedly threatened them citing ‘partisan reporting of their peaceful prayer mode (Namajapom) protest.’
Four women sent back
Three women devotees from the Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh who reached Pampa along with a pilgrimage group were blocked by protesters at the base of Neelimala from where the Sabarimala trekking begins in the afternoon.
A 48-year-old woman was spotted by another group of pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh on the Neelimala trekking path around 2 pm. The Guruswami of the AP pilgrims advised her not to proceed in view of the protests. A group of protesters then accompanied her to the woman police personnel’s rest room at Pampa.
Tearful IG offers prayers
A tearful Inspector General of Police S. Sreejith offering prayers at the Ayyappa shrine with folded hands was a major topic of discussion among devotees and police personnel on duty at the hillock on Monday. The attempts made by the police to clear the protesters from the hillock before noon did not yield results. Police sources said not fewer than 3,000 protesters owing allegiance to Sangh Parivar have been camping in the hillock since October 16.
Pandalam Palace managing committee leaders P.G. Sasikumar Varma and M.N. Narayana Varma reached Pampa to attend the atonement rituals performed at Sabarmala on Monday.
The rituals were prescribed during the astrological consultation (Devaprasnom) held earlier.
