A tense situation prevailed in Sabarimala as police hustled away scores of BJP-RSS workers who attempted to block the road to the ancient forest shrine 22 km downhill at Nilackal base camp.
The temple will be opened for worship at 5 pm on Wednesday for the first time since the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the right of women of all ages to worship at the ancient forest shrine in September.
The officers also dismantled a makeshift shed that had become the focal point of the agitation against the Government for its refusal to appeal the momentous verdict.
The forested locality had transformed into a hotspot for political protest overnight after an assortment of Ayyappa devotee groups, and Hindu organisations threw their weight behind the increasingly rancorous agitation to prevent women from worshipping at Sabarimala.
Woman devotee mobbed
Meanwhile, scores of women and persons suspects to be BJP activists mobbed a woman en route to Sabarimala at Pathanamthitta bus stand. The police threw a human wall around her when the group gheraoed her shouting Ayyappa chants. The woman, Libi from Cherthala, told television journalists that she had observed the rigorous 41-day penance to visit the temple and no force could turn her back. The police escorted her away from the spot.
At Sabarimala temple, the chief priest Rajiv Kantararu told television reporters that his prayers were with those striving to protect the temple traditions. However, he was not for any open agitation in the matter.
The police have deployed robustly at Nilackal. They have declared Pampa and Sannidhanam as special security zones to stymie any attempt to turn the religiously sensitive localities into hotspots for political protests. ADGP Anil Kanth and IG Manoj Abraham were camping there.
