SSridhar wrote:A noisy protest broke out at Pampa on Sunday morning when a group of persons objected to two women from Andhra Pradesh trekking uphill to the Sabarimala temple.
This has been a perennial problem for quite some time. It is women from AP & TS who come year after year to Sabari Mala, but I do feel that it is purely because
they do NOT know the tradition & customs at Sabari Mala. These visits are due to the ignorance of the unique traditions of Sabari Mala, and never done due to malice. The two women voluntarily came down after the police explained the situation and the traditions to them (an activity which the police has been doing excellently for very many years

). Yesterday a lady did face a sad situation when the devotees were not convinced of her age. There was (and still is) a strong feeling among the Ayyappa devotees that the government is hell bent on destroying their faith/belief system. The fakes and "activists" have now managed to cause distrust.
Update at 1412Hrs IST: One more woman from A.P reaches the point just below the holy 18 steps. She had lied on her age at the points down hill. And her Aadhaar card (which she conveniently carried) showed her age as 46. The police have now asked her to go back. This could be a case of Naxals (urban or rural) who are aplenty in A.P trying to play their nasty games. Perhaps Aadhaar card was taken in order to visit the shrine, and then openly declare that her age is in the currently banned age bracket.
nandakumar wrote:Perhaps they are performing the 41 day Vratam before embarking on their pilgrimage!
They can do the
Vrith the way they want. But there are very many other steps to take up this pilgrimage. They have to wear the mandatory necklace at a Hindu temple, with a
Guru Swamy (a person who has visited Sabari Mala 18+ times) initiating the ceremony. Then there is the very traditional custom of doing the
Kettu Nira (in which the mandatory items which every pilgrim would be carrying is prepared and packed), which is also done by a
Guru Swamy. And without these, no person will be allowed to climb the holy 18 steps leading to the shrine. No
Guru Swamy, a true devotee of Ayyappa would initiate these ceremonies for dubious women like Trupti Desai, Rehna Fathima etc.
Javee wrote:Your fake outrage on KL alone getting shafted in SC and bringing in TN is a neat way of dividing the popular support from other states. No one is going to fall for it. Sabarimalai is the largest annual pilgrimage site in the world with at least 20 million people visiting the abode.
Well said. In fact among the devotees who did the protest against the NY times reporter, it was the devotees from TN who were the most active. And that also reassured me that Sabari Mala is like a mass movement in South India. State, religion, caste, community does not matter. The whole pilgrimage is a test of self discipline, determination and belief.
Rehana's FB post today - claiming that she will sue the channel that said she had sanitary napkins in the irumudi also claiming that the vandals destroyed her kids toys, uniform etc..
How did she even manage to make the
Irumudi Kettu itself is a big question. This "packing of items" is done under the supervision of a
Guru Swamy. As we say in Malayalam - "ഇത് പട്ടി ചന്തക്ക് പോകുന്ന പോലെ അല്ല" (it is not as easy as a dog going to a market, and then just wandering there).
habal wrote:Regarding protests and LAKHS involved I am yet to be convinced it is a protest beyond nair, vishwakarma, kaniyan, thattan, and some other aristocratic communities.

. As they say in Malayalam -
"നിന്റെ വിശ്വാസം നിന്നെ രക്ഷിക്കട്ടെ” (may your belief, save you)

. These so called "aristocratic" communities are a miniscule of the population. Every single community leader (including the U turn champion Vellappally Nadeshan) have taken a stand against the government policy and the court order. It just the way they articulated things would be different. And then Sabari Mala is not a temple where only Keralites go, people from South India (again cutting across caste, community lines) visit in large numbers. I suggest you keep an eye on the
Mandala Kaalam which is fast approaching. This is the peak season at Sabari Mala. See the crowd, see the way the police does the crowd control.
Dileep wrote:There is time. almost a month for the season to start, and 41 days thereafter to struggle. If the KL BJP can get their act together, and the central folk pull out their heads from the musharraffs and give support, they can dent the commies really bad.
My gut feeling. This issue would get "resolved" (or at least some kind of amicable situation reached) before the peak season starts. K.P has actually thrown up their hands and said that they cannot do any thing further. The commies have also understand that Kannur (commie strong hold) is part of Kerala, and not the other way round. The "party village" customs and traditions cannot be implemented else where. The communist government will use the
Shikhandi they have - the Travancore Devaswom Board - to approach the court and get some amicable solution. Because in the peak season if any such gimmicks are done, Kerala most likely would see another
vimochana samaram. Governor taking reports, and the IB giving very accurate instructions to the state government (on who will try to make entry) and now BJP also becoming hard core
Ayyappa devotees are signs that some solution would be found soon. The commies will have to do some U turns, at least to keep BJP away.
I am willing to bet that CPIM (as usual) missed the people's pulse by a mile, and will lose miserably in the next election. If BJP is smart, they can garner much of the fallout and win a few seats.
If the Sabari Mala issue gets a permenant resolution, the commies still have time to regroup. The GoKL has said that they are willing to accept any orders from Hon.SC and would abide by it. They have now become true lovers of Supreme Court verdicts

. And they are trying to pass the buck to the judiciary again. Which also worries me, because BJP would then try to keep the issue in "suspended animation" for playing political games. The communists are trying to split Hindus on caste lines, and also expecting the minority religions to still support them. There is a court verdict to hand over a church to a specific X'ian sect (Orthodox group); and there should be a movement to force the commies to implement that Hon.SC verdict also.
chandrasekaran wrote:Sorry, I think the highlighted part is just a lame excuse. The notice without any highlighting just reads as any other "wish washy advisory" from a sarkari babu.
Sorry to disagree with you, sir. This seems to be the best report IB can give to a state government. Note the words,
"civil/woman rights activists", and also the notes on the general feeling of Hindu society in Kerala. Note the word
"sizeable number of women" among the groups protesting against the verdict. This itself should have alerted the state government and police on what is to be expected. Yet, the state government and police tried to get these "activists" up the hill shrine. What was the Kerala Govt. expecting? IB to actually tell the names of the women activists who would be coming? And their Aadhaar # as well?

. It is clear that IB knew exactly who would be trying to gain entry, what is the public sentiment and where the protests would be held.
Nothing is going to happen to the priests

. In Sabari Mala among the priests there is a kind of hierarchy. The big boss is the
Thantri (the chief priest, who said he would close down the temple). Under his command is the
Mel Shanthi (who is the head priest, who works under the chief priest). Under the
Mel Shanthi are a lot of apprentices and junior priests, who generally assist their superiors. These people are generally taken on a contract basis, and also work on a "shift pattern". The junior priests who did the protest were "off duty" priests, and all they did was to chant Ayyappa
bhajans.