Kochi: Kerala BJP leader K Surendran, who is out on bail, has pleaded the court to allow him to visit the Sabarimala temple during the Makaravilakattu ritual.

He pleaded the Kerala high court that he had kept the Kettu - a box of sacred items to be taken inside the shrine - and said that this makes his visit to the shrine compulsory.

Surendran spent 23 days in jail after he stopped a woman from entering Sabarimala, who was there to perform the first rice feeding ceremony. However, the Kerala high court granted him bail along with strict conditions including the one to keep him away from Pathanamthitta, where Sabarimala shrine is situated.

He was arrested on November 17 and was released on December 8 on bail.

His plea to the court will be heard on January 14, a day before the Makaravilakattu festival. The court even asked Surendran why he can’t visit the temple on the first day of any Malayalam month, when the shrine is opened for rituals.

But the attorney representing the Kerala state government has said that Surendran had deliberately created problems during his last visit and tried to affect the law and order situation at Sabarimala.