Women from Tamil Nadu's hindu outfit will 'wait' to enter Ayyappa shrine despite Sabarimala verdict

File Image of procession at Ayyappa Temple (Courtesy: PTI)

CHENNAI: Despite the Supreme Court verdict over Sabarimala, women from a Hindu group in Tamil Nadu on Saturday said that they will wait till they cross 50 to visit the Lord Ayyappa shrine. 

The women cadres held lamps while offering prayers in temples at Tamil Nadu. 

The cadres belonged to Bharat Hindu Munnani. They met at the Sri Gangadeeswara temple here, saying they would not visit the shrine till they crossed 50 years of age and the menstrual cycle.

"For us, the ancient customs hold good all the time to come irrespective of whether a court favored it or not," a participant in the prayer meeting said.  

Hindu Makkal Katchi chief Arjun Sampath said, 'Light Lamp' prayer meetings were held by his outfit in several temples in places including Coimbatore, Cuddalore and Tirupur.

"These are prayer meetings to reaffirm our faith in our customs. In such meetings, women take a vow to visit the Sabarimala temple only in accordance with our beliefs," he told news agency PTI.

Women pledged (called 'kathiruppom,' meaning let us wait) to offer worship at the temple in Sabarimala only when they attain the age stipulated by "customs and beliefs," he said.

Signatures, collected as part of a campaign in this connection, would be submitted to the notice of the Travancore Dewaswom Board which administrates the shrine in Sabarimala, he said.

The Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, had Friday said banning the entry of women into the shrine is gender discrimination and the practice violates rights of Hindu women.

(With PTI Inputs)