A massive group of around 5 million women (as per news sources) on 01 Jan 2019 were seen protesting in favor of the Supreme Court ruling to allow the women in their menstrual age (between 10 and 50 approximately) in Sabarimala Temple located in Kerala, India. As per the temple history and traditions, females, except of the age group between 10 and 50, are allowed to visit and worship the temple.
Now why did it become an issue?
Keeping in view the traditions and sentiments of the Hindu people, this temple has been known to have certain energies that can negatively harm the women in their menstrual age, as this temple operates in presence of Tantri priest. Due to this reason, they did not allow the women of certain age to enter the temple. It is to be noted that all the religions in the world have their own customs and traditions that they follow and it is with those belief system the religions exist.
Interestingly, the people belonging to Christianity and Muslim background are more eager to break the tradition and they have been quite keen about this temple since long. They are fighting to provide the right to entry to the Hindu women. And there are also other Hindu women who believe they should be allowed to pray in the temple. This further led to two women entering the temple on 03 Jan 2019 that created havoc. IT SEEMS RIGHT when we look at the surface but when we go deeper, they themselves have a lot of gender issues in their part of the religion which they never even speak of. And this creates a dilemma in their intent. It cannot be termed wrong that they are speaking in favor of gender equality but it is worrisome when they, in coordinated manner, ignore the flaws of their religions and focus on a single Hindu temple. To speak of reality, there have not been a single woman Pope in the history of Christianity, and the women have limited roles in Church and cannot even be a priest in Roman Catholic Churches and we all know how the Muslim women have to struggle for their right to dress freely, let alone live one. Religion is one of the most sensitive issues in the world and provocating the people in these terms without proper research and understanding can bring chaos and even loss of lives.
Due to these, it seems that this protest was a motivated one rather than based on true intentions.
To explain a little further, there are hundreds and thousands of Hindu temples in India and Nepal where people of all the age group and gender can enter and worship. However, this temple is one of the exceptions where women of certain age and circumstances are denied entry. So, it is a clear common sense that this temple was built with different purpose and energies. Had it been a gender issue, women of all age group would have been denied entry; but this is not the case as women who are not in their menstrual age can enter.
To conclude, if there exist differences simply based on gender, all the women must be allowed entry; but if there are other aspects to it other than gender, it is worth noting. It is requested that the people need to be more receptive, profound and understand all the details before coming to conclusions in these kinds of delicate issues that involve the belief of millions of people.
Please leave your thoughts…