48 hours ahead of Sabarimala's opening, temple body may seek more time from SC to implement order

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 15: While the Sabarimala Hindu temple is set to open its doors for monthly puja on Wednesday, Travancore Devaswom Board has said that the infrastructure at the temple is not yet ready to allow women. The Temple body that manages the hill-shrine shrine hinted that the temple body could ask the Supreme Court for time to implement its verdict allowing women to enter the hill-shrine.

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the temple custodian, has invited the representatives of Pandalam Royal Family, Sabarimala priests, priests' organisation and Hindu organisations for a meeting even as Kerala BJP president PS Sreedharan Pillai warned the Left government to resolve the issue of women visitors or face "severe consequences".

The BJP, RSS, Congress and Hindu groups have been protesting against the September 28 Supreme Court ruling lifting the ban on entry of women in the 10-50 age group into the temple, saying it will breach age-old traditions.

Thousands of Lord Ayyappa devotees, including women and children, today protested in Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram against the Supreme Court order allowing entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple.

In another development, the Travancore Devaswom Board has called a meeting of various stakeholders of the shrine, including the Tantri (head priest) family, Pandalam royals and Ayyappa Seva Sangam, on Tuesday.

The shrine will reopen on Wednesday for monthly rituals. It would be closed on October 22 after the five-day monthly pooja of Malayalam month of 'Thulam'.

The Supreme Court had last month lifted the ban on women in the 10-50 age group from entering the temple, leading to widespread protests in Kerala. The protests have been building up to a crescendo.