Defense PRO Dhanya Sanal becomes first woman to trek Agasthyarkudam peak after HC order

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15: Defense PRO Dhanya Sanal became the first woman to trek Agasthyarkudam peak after 2018 Kerala High Court ordered that women can't be excluded from trekking the peak which is considered final resting place of sage Agasthya, who is an eternal celibate.

K Dhanya Sanal, armed with a recent high court order which lifted the 'unofficial' ban on entry of women to the peak, began the arduous journey along with male trekkers through the traditional forest path from Bonacaud, located about 50 kms from Thiruvananthapuram.

The local Kani tribes living on the foothills have opposed the scaling of the lofty peak by women. They had staged protests against permitting women to the peak, but did not attempt to stop the trekkers, including Dhanya, in view of the court order.

Agasthyarkoodam is a 1,868-metre (6,129 ft)-tall peak within Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala in the Western Ghats of South India. However, peak lies in the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

This peak is a part of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve which lies on the border between the Indian states of Kerala (in Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts) and Tamil Nadu (in Kanyakumari district, Tirunelveli district). The perennial Thamirabarani River originates from the eastern side of the range and flows into the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.

(With PTI inputs)