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Kerala temple bars men on Pongal
Published on Fri, Jun 30, 2006 at 20:03, Updated on Fri, Jun 30, 2006 at 20:24 in India section
Tags: Sabarimala, Jaimala
Thiruvananthapuram(Kerala):Actress Jaimala's claims of touching Lord Ayyappa's idol has kicked off a controversy and with it the debate over discrimination against women in places of worship.
But the issue is not so much about gender bias as it is about age old traditions and beliefs.
The denial of entry to women into the shrine forms the crux of the faith at Sabarimala.
Feminists may take offence, but for lakhs of devotees who undertake staunch penance for 41 days before visiting the temple, this denial to women between the ages of 10 and 55 is an integral part of the pilgrimage.
"By doing 41 days of penance or vrita we are eliminating desire. You have to stop the mind actions, as Patanjali says in his definition of yoga. Sabarimala is the place for that philosophy to be practiced to reach a mental state beyond thoughts, feelings and provocation," says the grandson of the head priest of Sabarimala, Rahul Easwar.
However, not all temples are a no-no for women. An example that tosses feminists' claims out of the window on the auspicious day of Pongal, it's the men who are kept out from the famous Attukal temple in Thiruvanathapuram, for the festival is exclusively for women.
Experts say that all those who tow the discrimination line do not really have a case worth holding up.
According to a scientist at the Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage, Dr N Gopala Krishnan, "The tradition started centuries ago keeping in mind, the health and physiologoical conditions of women. There is no question of keeping women away from the spiritual center of Sabarimala."
In close to 12 temlpes in Kerala, women are the chief priests and men are denied entry into the sanctum sanctorum.
More than 100 temples in Kerala have non-brahmins as priests - facts that throw the discrimination angle out of the window.
Jaimala's confession might have started yet another debate on whether women should be allowed in all temples.
While the rationlists would prefer to tow the discriminatory line, it seems more and more clear that age old dogmas and religious beliefs are the real reasons behind this, leaving little scope for a debate.
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