Two women enter flashpoint Indian temple after millions protest for female access

Two women secretly entered a flashpoint Hindu temple after an Indian Supreme Court decision to overturn a centuries-old ban on women aged between 10 and 50.

The women entered the hilltop temple in Kerala, southern India, just before dawn under police protection and left undetected, officials said.

They are the first women to enter the Sabarimala temple since the ban was lifted.

Priests later ‘purified’ the temple, which does not permit menstruating women inside.

The two women were named by Indian media as Bindu and Kanaka Durga, and had tried to enter the temple last month but were stopped by protesters supporting the ban.

‘Today two women have entered the shrine. We had given a standing order to the police to provide all possible protection to any woman who wants to enter the temple,’ said Kerala chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan.

One of the women, Bindu described the journey to a local television station the pair had to undertake to reach the temple early in the morning.

‘We reached Pampa, the main entry point to the temple at 1.30 a.m. and sought police protection to enter the temple,’ she said.

‘We walked two hours, entered the temple around 3.30 a.m. and did the darshan,’ the woman said, referring to a ritual of standing in front of the temple’s Hindu image.

The visit comes as millions of women have formed a human chain in Kerala to support women’s rights.

The women formed a human chain of 380 miles long across the length of the state.

The ‘Women’s Wall’ rally was backed by the government.

The temple row has been a flashpoint which has been rumbling since September, following the court’s decision.

M T Ramesh, the head of the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) in Kerala denounced the visit as ‘a conspiracy’.

On 22 January, the supreme court will hear a petition challenging the ruling, which could see the decision overturned.

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