Sabarimala Temple is abode of Lord Ayyappa, not a place for sex tourism: Former Travancore Devaswom Board president Prayar Gopalakrishnan

Reacting on the Sabarimala row, former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) President Prayar Gopalakrishnan on Friday accused the whole situation to be agenda driven.

Image Courtesy: ANI

Former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president Prayar Gopalakrishnan on Friday accused the protests at Sabarimala temple over entry of women to be agenda driven. According to news agency ANI, Gopalakrishnan said that even police were involved in the stand-off.

Dismissing any political angle to the protest, Gopalakrishnan further said that the Sabarimala Temple is not a place for 'sex tourism' and is the abode of Lord Ayyappa. 

Earlier on Thursday, the TDB was scheduled to meet and discuss an amicable solution to the row.

TDB president A Padmakumar said that the board is ready for any sort of compromise to end the protest and bring normalcy.

"We are not for any politics over the issue," he told reporters here.

Seeking to reach out to devotees opposing entry of women of all age groups, he asked if the protests would end if the TDB files a review plea in the Supreme Court against its verdict.

The meeting is being held after consensus eluded a crucial meeting of stakeholders called by the board last week to resolve the vexed issue of entry of women of all age groups into the shrine in the wake of the apex court judgment.

However, TDB, which manages over 1,200 temples in the state, including the Lord Ayyappa Temple, had said talks with the stakeholders would continue to find a solution.

Last week's meeting attended by various stakeholders of the shrine, including temple tantri (head priest), the Pandalam royal family, 'Ayyappa Seva Samajam' and 'Yoga Kshema Sabha', had failed to arrive at an agreement as the TDB stuck to its stand of not going for a review plea.

Representatives of the Pandalam royal family had walked out as TDB refused to concede their demand to take a decision on filing the review plea Tuesday itself.

However, the TDB president had said the meeting was not a "failure" and the board wanted to settle the issue and go ahead with the talks with the people concerned again.

The Sabarimala temple, located on the mountain ranges of the ecologically fragile Western Ghats, opened yesterday for the first time after the recent apex court order, allowing entry of women of all age groups there.

The shrine will close on October 22 after the five-day monthly puja during the Malayalam month of Thulam.