Women want to visit Sabarimala because they believe in the deity, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said on Thursday, countering the Travancore Devaswom Board’s strong opposition to removing the centuries-old prohibition on women in menarche from entering the famous temple in Kerala.
Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, for the Board, said the nature of the deity in Sabarimala is that of ‘Naishtika Brahmachari’ (celibate), and should not be disturb- ed. A 1991 Kerala High Court judgment supported the restriction, as it had been in place since time immemorial and not discriminatory to the Constitution. There are other Ayyappa temples, and women are free to offer prayers there unlike Sabarimala. Besides, he said, temples generally prohibit menstruating women.
To this, Chief Justice Misra observed that there were many Jagannath temples in the country, yet devotees throng the one in Puri.
The exchange came on the third day of hearing, by a Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice Misra, of petitions challenging the prohibition on women aged 10 to 50 from entering Sabarimala. The petitioners claim that the prohibition amounts to discrimination and another abolished social evil, untouchability.
‘Caste, creed no bar’
Mr. Singhvi submitted that Sabarimala does not practise exclusion. People from all walks of life and from every creed, caste and religion enter the temple. He submitted that it was also physiologically impossible for women to observe the 41-day penance before the pilgrimage. The restriction finds its source in the legend that the deity – Swami Ayyappa – is a Naishtika Brahmachari, he said.
The Kerala government stood firm in its support for allowing women entry into the temple. Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta submitted that such customs come within the ambit of Article 13 and should not violate any fundamental rights.
Amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran submitted that Article 17 (abolition of untouchability) extends to exclusions on the basis of bodily “impurity.” At one point, Justice Indu Malhotra, on the Bench, said there is a temple in Kerala where men are not allowed.
