Amid reports of possible tension, Sabarimala temple opens for 5-day puja
Two young women Bindu and Kanakadurga had entered the hill shrine on 2 January during the Makaravilkku season leading to a huge protest.
Two young women Bindu and Kanakadurga had entered the hill shrine on 2 January during the Makaravilkku season leading to a huge protest.
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by the then Chief Justice Misra had on September 28 last year junked the age-old tradition of the Lord Ayyappa temple by a majority verdict of 4:1.
Kanaka Durga and Bindu Ammini (40) had entered the hill shrine on January 3, breaking a centuries-old tradition and defying dire threats from right-wing groups.
On Friday night, a country-made bomb was hurled at the ancestral house of BJP MP V Muraleedharan in Kerala's Kannur district while country-made bombs were also hurled at CPI (M) MLA AN Shamseer and party's district secretary P Sasi while a CPI (M) worker was hacked to death at Irutty in Kannur.
Violent protests broke out across Kerala on Wednesday following the entry of the two women below 50 into the Sabarimala temple; a 55-year-old man lost his life in clashes between CPI(M) and BJP workers
Earlier on Sunday, 11 women, all from Tamil Nadu, had come to Pamba base camp ready for a trek to the shrine to pray to Lord Ayyappa, but were stopped by protesters.
Chanting Swamiye saranam Ayyappa, Nair set himself ablaze after pouring petrol over his body and tried to run to the makeshift tent where senior BJP leader C.K. Padmanabhan had been staging an indefinite fast.
The agitation against the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala is part of an “all-India game plan of the BJP and…
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had justified police action in Sabarimala, saying those who tried to create trouble were the ones who were arrested on Sunday night.
The situation started growing tense late on Sunday when despite prohibitory orders, over 200 pilgrims did not vacate the premise and started singing Lord Ayyappa hymns.
