Sabarimala tantri given 15 days to explain why 'purification' ritual

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan. 4 (IANS): The Travancore Devasom Board (TDB) -- custodians of the Sabarimala temple -- on Friday decided to seek an explanation from Kantararu Rajeeveru, the temple tantri, as to why they conducted a "purification ritual" on Wednesday, said a TDB official. Speaking to the media soon after a TDB meeting, its president A. Padmakumar said that the tantri would be given 15 days' time to give his explanation. "The purification ritual is against the directive of the Supreme Court and hence we have asked him to explain. Further action will follow after going through his explanation," said Padmakumar -- a former CPI-M legislator, handpicked by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as the TDB president. The temple was shut for an hour around 10.30 a.m on Wednesday for "purification rituals" after Vijayan that day confirmed that Bindu and Kanaka Durga had "darshan" at 3.30 a.m. Women in the 10-50 age group had traditionally been banned from entering the temple, until the recent Supreme Court verdict. Earlier, the two women had been stopped from entering the hill shrine by male pilgrims on December 24 as well. Vijayan on Thursday reiterated that the state government had only abided by the Supreme Court directive to allow women of all age groups to pray at the Sabarimala temple and breathed fire on tantri, saying it was a blatant violation of the Supreme Court order. He further said that he (tantri) has every right as a person to differ with the Supreme Court order. "However, if he is not able to digest the verdict, he could well have quit his post, but he cannot defy the law of the land," he said and added that the TDB should seriously look into what happened. In anticipation of the TDB serving them a notice, the tantri family on Wednesday itself said they would definitely reply to the letter, if required. Activists protest after women's entry into Sabarimala temple A group of human rights activist protested outside the Parliament House complex on Friday to express their strong objection to the "purification" rituals carried out by priests at Kerala's Sabarimala temple after two women of menstruating age entered it on Wednesday. All India Democratic Women's Association, Students' Federation of India and Democratic Youth Federation of India assembled on Rafi Marg and marched towards Parliament, according to a joint statement. They were holding the protest to express their objection to the purification rituals carried out by priests at the Sabarimala temple after two women entered it, it said. The women had stepped into the temple of Lord Ayyappa, breaking a centuries-old tradition and defying threats from the Hindu right. Kanakadurga, 44, and Bindu, 42, had entered the hallowed precincts guarded by police three months after the Supreme Court's historic judgement lifting the ban on entry of girls and women between 10 and 50 years of age into the hilltop shrine of Lord Ayyappa, its "eternally celibate" deity. Following the entry of the women, the chief priest had decided to close the sanctum sanctorum of the temple to perform the "purification" ceremony. The protesters strongly condemned the attempts of right-wing groups to create a communal frenzy and subvert the implementation of the orders of the Supreme Court in the Sabarimala case. Despite the apex court's ruling on September 28 last year, no children or young women in the 'barred' age group were able to offer prayers at the shrine because of frenzied protests by devotees and right-wing outfits.