CNN-IBN
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Jul 1: Tantri (head priest) of Sabarimala is likely to take legal action against Kannada actress-turned-producer Jayamala and a national daily.
Jayamala had claimed to have entered the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and touched the feet of the idol of Lord Ayyappa 19 years ago.
Her claims were made in a letter to the chief astrologer of the temple.
Jayamala's confessions came after a group of astrologers claimed that in the last 18 years, a woman's touch had violated the sanctity of the temple.
If the actress' claim is true, then, according to the temple authorities, it amounts to sacrilege.
Legend says, Lord Ayyappa had vowed to remain a bachelor. Citing the lore, entry of women between the age of 10 and 55 has been banned in the temple.
In 1991, a High Court endorsed the temple "to maintain its sanctity". Hence, if a woman enters the temple, it is considered sacrilege and amounts to defiling the idol.
Jayamala claims she was "pushed" into the sanctum sanctorum by the crowd and she caught hold of the idol's feet to steady herself.
However, it's unclear how the actress could have reached the sanctum sanctorum without the then Thantri Brahmasri Kantaru Maheswararu's approval.
Also, Jayamala's claims that she fell at the idol's feet after being pushed by the crowd seem very unlikely, because there is a distance of 21 feet between the idol and where the crowd stands.
Meanwhile, the Tantri claims that he is disturbed and has refuted all allegations.
Swearing by Lord Ayyappa, he says, "It's not possible that a woman can enter the sanctum sanctorum amidst such heavy security. And I am not lying."
Both the Tantri and the Travancore Devaswom Board are utterly baffled by her claim and the government of Kerala is going in for a judicial probe into the matter.
"Nobody stopped me. If they had then I would have stayed in the compound only. Why should I go inside if someone tells me to stop? The crowd pushed me, there were so many people along with me. I fell down and I caught hold of the God's feet. It was so beautiful," says Jaimala.
Jayamala insists that she did not know then that what she was doing was wrong and that she had touched the feet of the idol because that was how they prayed at home.
She added she had later realized what she had done amounted to sin and had thus faxed an apology to the concerned authorities.
Though the issue is going to be a sensitive one, it's going to be difficult for the state government to come to a conclusion because the incident took place in 1987.
The devotees, some of them who visit the temple on the first of every month, are extremely disturbed by the incident.
Before devotees go to the temple, they undergo staunch penance for 41 days and their belief is that no woman can come into the temple.
Controversy surrounding women's entry to Sabarimala is not new.
A few years ago, actress Sudha Chandran had performed a dance programme below the 18 holy steps of the temple leading to a hue and cry.
After the dance performance, the Kerala High Court asked the Travancore Devaswom to disallow women from climbing the hill to the shrine.
I’ll visit Sabarimala on my 50th b’day: Jayamala
CNN-IBN
Bangalore: Unfazed by the storm over her entry into the sanctum sanctorum of Sabarimala temple where women are barred, Kannada actress Jayamala on Friday blamed the shrine's administration and called for an end to the "unnecessary controversy" over it.
Blaming the temple authorities for "allowing her in the first place," she reiterated that "she had not touched Lord Ayyappa's feet knowingly but it happened as she had been pushed and jostled, making her fall near the deity and accidentally touching it."
Noting that the "unnecessary controversy" had pained her a lot, she appealed to the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which administers the shrine, to put an end to it and allow her to live in peace.
The 47-year-old actress expressed confidence that justice would be meted out to her by Lord Ayyappa, to whom the temple is dedicated, as she had "not committed any mistake."
"Being a true devotee of the Lord, I am sure he will do justice to me as I have not committed any mistake," Jaimala said.
She said she would celebrate her 50th birthday by visiting the shrine again.
Jayamala sparked a controversy by recently admitting that she had touched the idol of Lord Ayyappa during a visit to the temple in 1987.
She asked the board to strengthen security and enforce rules "uniformly without discriminating between VVIPs and the general public."
The authorities should clearly display rules on billboards in regional languages within the shrine so that "such controversies do not recur", she said.
Conspiracy suspected in temple sacrilege
NDTV
Thiruvananthapuram: Suspicion is growing about a conspiracy to undermine the prestige of Lord Ayyappa, after an actress admits to committing sacrilege at his temple in Kerala.
Ayyappa is considered a bachelor and young women are banned from entering the room where his idol is kept at Sabarimala.
The controversy began after actress Jayamala said she accidentally entered the room and touched the idol in 1987.
Vimala, a devotee, said the actress' claim is not possible "it is just propaganda".
"Some people may be trying to reduce its prestige but it is not possible," she said.
Another devotee, Srinivasan Ponnayan Ayyappan said, the actress' claim would not affect the power of the Lord".
Women denounce ban
Activists say the ban on women at the temple should go.
"If it is a living legend it should change with the times. It is a poor religion if it discriminates against women," said Renuka Narayanan, the editor of religion and culture with Hindustan Times.
"All are equal in the eyes of God," said academician Nirmala Prasad in Chennai.
"These practices must change. I feel insulted as a woman".
Sabarimala Temple located in Pathanamthitta district is about one thousand years old and welcomes members of all faiths and communities.
Myths connecting Islam, Hinduism and Yogic beliefs endorse the temple's broad policy on welcoming all people.
It inculcates a strong sense of discipline among followers who are expected to give up vices and greed.
The 18 steps at the Lord's doorstep indicate the progress a devotee makes as he gives up 18 different vices.
Kerala temple bars men on Pongal
CNN-IBN
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): Actress Jayamala'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.
Jayamala'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.