As the temple opened to devotees last week, a series of protests broke out as Kerala witnessed incidents of violence in Pamba, Nilakkal, Sannidhanam, and Elavungal
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said that it will decide when to hear the review petitions in the Sabarimala judgment on Tuesday.
The CJI Ranjan Gogoi-led Bench said that the Supreme Court is aware that there are 19 petitions and will decide on the listing tomorrow.
Kerala’s Sabarimala temple doesn’t traditionally allow women of menstruating age to enter its premises because its residing deity, Lord Ayappa, is celibate.
However, a recent Supreme Court judgment ruled that women of all ages have the constitutional right to enter the temple and offer their prayers without any discrimination.
As the temple opened to devotees last week, a series of protests broke out as Kerala witnessed incidents of violence in Pamba, Nilakkal, Sannidhanam, and Elavungal.
Here’s a timeline of the three-decade-long struggle for women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple:
1991: Kerala High Court upholds the decision to prohibit entry of women of ages 10 to 50 to the Sabarimala temple. A two-judge bench decreed that the prohibition by the Travancore Devaswom Board does not violate the Constitution or a pertinent 1965 Kerala law.
2006: Kannada actress-politician Jayamala claims that she had entered the Sabarimala temple in 1987 when she was 28-years-old. The Kerala government probed the matter through its crime branch but the case was soon dropped.
Also read: Sabarimala temple: Women entered place of worship in 1940s?
2008: Kerala’s Left Democratic Front government files an affidavit supporting a PIL filed by women lawyers that questioned the ban on the entry of women in the Sabarimala temple.
2016: The India Young Lawyers Association files a PIL with the Supreme Court, contending that Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules 1965 that states “Women who are not by custom and usage allowed to enter a place of public worship shall not be entitled to enter or offer worship in any place of public worship” violates constitutional guarantees of equality, non-discrimination, and religious freedom. Following this, the Kerala government favoured the entry of women of all ages to the temple and filed an affidavit for the same.
2018: On September 28, the Supreme Court decided to allow women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. While reading out the judgment, CJI Misra said: "Right to worship is given to all devotees and there can be no discrimination on the basis of gender."
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