SC Throws open the doors of Sabarimala to all women
God does not discriminate between genders, who are we to do so? Enunciating so, the Honourable Chief Justice of Supreme Court, heading a five bench constitution bench, flung open the doors of Sabarimala temple to women of menstruating age. The looming retirement of Lordship Dipak Misra has spurred a bustle of historic liberal-minded verdicts recently, including the drubbing down of colonial-era laws that criminalize adultery and gay sex.Back in 1973, not even in my wildest imagination did I envisage myself displeasing the beautiful goddess Malikapurathamma nor did I have the slightest clue that I was aiding Lord Ayyappa uphold his celibate vow by being one among the minuscular tribe of kanni swamis (first devotees), undertaking the toilsome trek from Erumeli through the dense jungles to the abode of Lord Ayyappa.
Ayyappan shrine at Sabarimala is nestled in the hills of Pathanamthitta of Kerala. The shrine receives millions of pilgrims every year in late December and early January, many of whom prepare for weeks before and then climb the hill barefoot, making it one of the largest active pilgrimage sites in the world. Sabarimala has been a secular place since ancient times. It was and is open to all castes and religions. In Sabarimala, if a Dalit is heading a prayer a Brahmin would still have to touch his feet and receive his blessings. Thousands of Christians and Muslim devotees of Lord Ayyappa too have embraced the restraint on women not as an act of humiliation but as a willingness on the part of female devotees to respect a tradition. Some argue that there is no discrimination against women in case of Sabarimala as is being made out, as it forbids women only during a particular period between 10 to 50 years while there exist temples and mosques which could be described discriminatory as they prohibit women for a lifetime.
There are numerous explanations as to why menstruating women are forbidden in Sabarimala. The most well-known one, being that Lord Ayyappa restrains menstruating women out of empathy for love and sacrifice of Malikapurathamma as well as her eternal wait. Second off, being a celibate, Lord Ayyappa does not desire to be distracted by fertile women. The authorities, on the other hand, hold a belief, according to which, women in 10- 50 age bracket are assumed to be impure during menstruation in conformity with ancient customs. As a consequence, Hindu women customarily do not enter temples when they have periods. Another reason which reveals common-sense pertains to the terrain of Sabarimala hills which is covered by dense forests. A trek in the dangerous forests with lack of sanitation facilities is definitely not suited for women, this appears to have dissuaded and deterred women from undertaking the pilgrimage. In a similar way, it is conjectured that the wild animals like tigers which roamed the jungles are adept at smelling out the blood of women during her periods and attacking them which is why women might have not have ventured into the forests. Then there is a cosmological explanation as well. The gopuras of the temple are styled in an inverted cone shape, to enable them to collect cosmic rays, and concentrate them on the idol within, as opposed to yagna kundas which are open cone-shaped to spread the cosmic force beams generated, among those around it. All human beings possess a field of force around them. The force field of menstruating women is believed to be unfavourable to Sabarimala temple as it is believed to diminish and dissipate the cumulated cosmic energy inside the temple.
There is no scriptural basis for the custom of women not being permitted because the story of Lord Ayyappa happened relatively recently. The story of Shiva’s son Dharma Sastha, who was born when Shiva encountered Mohini, took place in ancient times, but Prince Manikandan of Pandalam, commonly known as Ayyappa, was an incarnation of Dharma Sastha who lived recently after Muslims had already come to India. One version says that instead of a biological origin, Ayyappa streamed out from Shiva’s semen, which he ejaculated upon embracing Mohini. Lord Ayyappan is symbolised in Hindu mythology as a gallant celibate god who is an epitome of Dharma. For some, he is also an incarnation of the Buddha. He is honoured by some Muslims in Kerala, with the myth whereinto Ayyappan defeats and gains worship of the Muslim bandit Vavar (Babar in Urdu). Vavar even today is worshipped by Muslims and Hindus in a mosque at Erumeli. In the popular Hindu tradition, he is believed to have been born with the commingled faculties of Shiva and Vishnu, to reckon with and defeat the evil buffalo demon Mahishasura.
The legend also has it that from the slain demoness, popped up, the most gorgeous and beautiful Malikapurathamma who pleaded with Lord Ayyappa to marry her. Lord Ayyappa declined and proceeded to Sabarimala to meditate. Nevertheless, Lord Ayyappa assured her, that he would marry her if and when the first time devotees called kanni-swamis cease visiting Sabarimala. Disillusioned, Malikapurathamma perseveres to wait for Lord Ayyappa at a juxtaposed shrine where she is worshipped by the millions of devotees who flock the temple to offer obeisances to Lord Ayyappa.
The recent judgement of the Supreme Court is ostensibly to open a Pandora’s box. Concerns like whether or not the Liberal Catholic Church should furlough woman to become a priest or for that matter the contention of Muslim women to acquit oneself as imams and lead prayers could be challenged in the courts in the future. There are other places of worship in India where women are disallowed fully or partially such as Kartikeya Temple, Pehowa, Haryana, Patbaushi Satra, Ranakpur Jain Temple, Kartikeya Temple, Pushkar, Bhavani Deeksha Mandapam, Vijayawada etc and there are places of worship were men are prohibited such as Kamrup Kamakhya Temple, Assam, Bhagwati Maa Temple, Kanyakumari, Lord Brahma temple, Rajasthan, Chakkulathukavu Temple, Kerala, Mata Temple in Bihar etc. What is going to be their fate? Mr Rahul Easwar, president of the Ayyappa Dharma Sena (Ayyappa Religious Army), has decided to file a review petition against the present ruling of Supreme Court.
Saints belonging to all religions have been preaching all the time that God is formless, ageless, and genderless. Gender is a human quality that is associated with physical reality but there is no gender and physical body in the spiritual realm. Souls being spiritual energies are beyond dualities of feminine/masculine, good/bad, night/day, black/white, etc only when a soul incarnates into a physical form, it experiences being feminine or masculine. Hence, at the physical level, we as human beings may belong to different genders and seek sexual union, but at the spiritual level as souls we are genderless beings desiring union with divine consciousness, if it is so let’s look deep into ourselves, to know for ourselves why discrimination on any grounds, cannot be our true nature if we believe we are souls?
Source from: epaper/deccanchronicle/chennai/dt:01.10.2018
Dr.K. Jayanth Murali is an IPS Officer belonging to 1991 batch. He is borne on Tamil Nadu cadre. He lives with his family in Chennai, India. He is currently serving the Government of Tamil Nadu as Additional Director General of Police, DVAC.
