Bengaluru: Sabarimala devotees urge SC to reconsider

Thousands of Sabarimala devotees on Saturday requested the Supreme Court to reconsider its recent judgment, which allowed the women of all age groups to enter the Ayappa temple premises.

Devotees marched in protest from Town hall to Freedom par and few even walked bare-footed to reach the venue.

“Crores of devotees are worshiping lord Ayappa since many years. The latest judgment is actually being misused by the miscreants to gain publicity. We are not waging war against anyone by showing the strength. We respect the law, but meanwhile, we request the Apex Court to reconsider the judgment. As there is a tradition that is being followed from ages,” Sandalwood senior actor Shivaram told DH.

Protestors also took a procession with an Ayappa idol on their vehicles. Sriram sene chief Pramod Muthalik was also present at the protest march.

“We request Supreme Court to look into the adverse effect of the judgment. Few women who bypassed the protestors and entered the temple are not at all the devotees of Ayappa. Few people just gained publicity with the issue. Crores of devotees, who have been worshiping the lord are hurt by the development. The temple will reopen in the first week of November. We hope the Apex Court reconsiders the judgment by then,” Suresh, an Ayappa devotee said.

The protestors also said that they plan to go to Sabarimala when the temple authorities reopen the doors as they want to try their level best to save the tradition.

Devotees also alleged that the Kerala government and CPI(M) party cadres misused the judgment to provoke Hindus.

“In our recent visit we saw few CPI(M) cadres had donned khaki and made the women activists to enter the temple. As the police were not capable of controlling the crowd, Kerala government had deployed their party cadres. We heard that they are going to call up the military in the first week of November,” Shivanna another devotee said.