Hari Aum.
Readers in India would be aware of the current situation at the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. This is not about one temple, one court ruling and one gender. This is about a larger issue. One of respect and sensitivity towards the feelings of others.
For those who are not aware (particularly those outside India), what has happened is this. The Supreme Court of India has recently passed a judgement overturning the ancient rule that women aged between 10- 50 years cannot visit the temple. You may think this is reasonable. But it is not really, as explained below.
A temple is a place of worship, like a mosque and a church. Most temples, churches and mosques are run by religious orders worldwide. Governments generally do not run these. Courts do not usually interfere in their functioning (as long as they abide by the law).
In Kerala, bizarrely, Hindu temples are controlled by the state government, which is currently a communist government that is proudly atheistic. However, churches and mosques in Kerala are not controlled by the government. Why this differential treatment towards Hindus by the Kerala government? No place of worship should be directly controlled by any government. They should be run by people of faith (who naturally should abide by the laws of the land).
Religion is a matter of belief. As long as one is not being violent or harming anyone else, one has the right to believe whatever one likes. Freedom of thought is a basic human right.
The Sabarimala temple is an ancient temple, several thousands of years old, where women aged between 10 - 50 years cannot enter. Like many temples in India, there is a legend behind the deity of the temple who is known as Ayyappa. He was born of the union of Shiva and Mohini (the avatar of Vishnu) in order to destroy an asura (demon, symbolic of negative energy). At Sabarimala, He assumes the form of a celibate, one who has no consort.
Devotees who go to the temple traditionally prepare for their visit to the deity by performing rigorous austerities. They sleep on the ground, fast, abstain from sex, alcohol, meat and all negativity for 41 days. During this period, they give up their name, their title, their status/caste etc, and adopt the name 'Swami'. They try to serve others and to see God everywhere. All men who visit the temple dress in the same simple attire, lose their identity and go to pay their respects to Ayyappa.
The temple is in a very inhospitable area surrounded by dense forests that used to be filled with wild animals such as tigers, elephants, snakes and so on. Going to the temple used to be very dangerous in the past as one had to walk for several kilometres through the dense jungles (now people take public transport and it is much easier). My mother told me of an uncle who used to go every year and return with his feet covered in blisters. I also have some cousins who frequently visit the Sabarimala shrine. I have never been there myself. I have been to other Ayyappa temples in the world where this rule does not apply but not to Sabarimala as, being in my mid-30s, I am currently in the prohibited age group.
As per the traditional custom of the temple, because the deity Ayyappa is a celibate, and His devotees who visit Him practice celibacy during their pilgrimage (most of whom are men), young women in the age group 10-50 years are not permitted to visit the temple.
There are similar temples in India where men cannot enter, e.g. the Attukal Bhagavati temple in Kerala, the Bhagati Ma temple in Tamil Nadu and the Brahma temple in Rajasthan. In these temples, only women can enter.
There are many areas in life where I feel there needs to be serious improvement for women's equality. However, the Sabarimala temple is not one of them. The Sabarimala temple's sacred traditions should not be broken in the name of feminism and women's equality. That is ignorance, not equality.
At present, various self-proclaimed activists who are neither Hindu nor believers in Ayyappa are marching to the temple to enter the shrine. They wish to proudly declare themselves to be the first woman of the prohibited age group to break the tradition of the temple and portray themselves as great feminists. Would these women like it if men start barging into the female-only temples of India? The truth is, they would not care. Because they are neither religious nor spiritual- they would not mind if all the sacred traditions in all temples were broken. They neither understand celibacy nor devotion nor any other spiritual vow. They merely wish to create a stir and demonstrate their activism.
This is a sorry state of affairs where right appears wrong and wrong appears right. Let the Ayyappa temple's traditions be preserved, let the Bhagati Ma temple's traditions be preserved.
I only hope that the courts in India stop interfering in the running of temples and that communist atheistic governments stop meddling in the affairs of devotees. This sort of nonsense would not be permitted in countries outside India, such as the UK, where every church, mosque and temple runs its own affairs (while abiding by the laws of the country). You cannot force churches in the UK to ordain women as priests in the name of gender equality. The government cannot do this. It is up to the churches to decide whether or not they wish to make any changes. That is how it should be.
By all means let Hindus debate among themselves as to how, when and where equality in temples can be improved, how the practice of our religion can be improved to reflect its great values. But courts and governments have no business meddling in the affairs of our religion.
Swamiye sharanam Ayyappa. May Ayyappa bless us all with control of our senses and intelligence to distinguish right from wrong.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
Readers in India would be aware of the current situation at the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. This is not about one temple, one court ruling and one gender. This is about a larger issue. One of respect and sensitivity towards the feelings of others.
For those who are not aware (particularly those outside India), what has happened is this. The Supreme Court of India has recently passed a judgement overturning the ancient rule that women aged between 10- 50 years cannot visit the temple. You may think this is reasonable. But it is not really, as explained below.
A temple is a place of worship, like a mosque and a church. Most temples, churches and mosques are run by religious orders worldwide. Governments generally do not run these. Courts do not usually interfere in their functioning (as long as they abide by the law).
In Kerala, bizarrely, Hindu temples are controlled by the state government, which is currently a communist government that is proudly atheistic. However, churches and mosques in Kerala are not controlled by the government. Why this differential treatment towards Hindus by the Kerala government? No place of worship should be directly controlled by any government. They should be run by people of faith (who naturally should abide by the laws of the land).
Religion is a matter of belief. As long as one is not being violent or harming anyone else, one has the right to believe whatever one likes. Freedom of thought is a basic human right.
The Sabarimala temple is an ancient temple, several thousands of years old, where women aged between 10 - 50 years cannot enter. Like many temples in India, there is a legend behind the deity of the temple who is known as Ayyappa. He was born of the union of Shiva and Mohini (the avatar of Vishnu) in order to destroy an asura (demon, symbolic of negative energy). At Sabarimala, He assumes the form of a celibate, one who has no consort.
Devotees who go to the temple traditionally prepare for their visit to the deity by performing rigorous austerities. They sleep on the ground, fast, abstain from sex, alcohol, meat and all negativity for 41 days. During this period, they give up their name, their title, their status/caste etc, and adopt the name 'Swami'. They try to serve others and to see God everywhere. All men who visit the temple dress in the same simple attire, lose their identity and go to pay their respects to Ayyappa.
The temple is in a very inhospitable area surrounded by dense forests that used to be filled with wild animals such as tigers, elephants, snakes and so on. Going to the temple used to be very dangerous in the past as one had to walk for several kilometres through the dense jungles (now people take public transport and it is much easier). My mother told me of an uncle who used to go every year and return with his feet covered in blisters. I also have some cousins who frequently visit the Sabarimala shrine. I have never been there myself. I have been to other Ayyappa temples in the world where this rule does not apply but not to Sabarimala as, being in my mid-30s, I am currently in the prohibited age group.
As per the traditional custom of the temple, because the deity Ayyappa is a celibate, and His devotees who visit Him practice celibacy during their pilgrimage (most of whom are men), young women in the age group 10-50 years are not permitted to visit the temple.
There are similar temples in India where men cannot enter, e.g. the Attukal Bhagavati temple in Kerala, the Bhagati Ma temple in Tamil Nadu and the Brahma temple in Rajasthan. In these temples, only women can enter.
There are many areas in life where I feel there needs to be serious improvement for women's equality. However, the Sabarimala temple is not one of them. The Sabarimala temple's sacred traditions should not be broken in the name of feminism and women's equality. That is ignorance, not equality.
At present, various self-proclaimed activists who are neither Hindu nor believers in Ayyappa are marching to the temple to enter the shrine. They wish to proudly declare themselves to be the first woman of the prohibited age group to break the tradition of the temple and portray themselves as great feminists. Would these women like it if men start barging into the female-only temples of India? The truth is, they would not care. Because they are neither religious nor spiritual- they would not mind if all the sacred traditions in all temples were broken. They neither understand celibacy nor devotion nor any other spiritual vow. They merely wish to create a stir and demonstrate their activism.
This is a sorry state of affairs where right appears wrong and wrong appears right. Let the Ayyappa temple's traditions be preserved, let the Bhagati Ma temple's traditions be preserved.
I only hope that the courts in India stop interfering in the running of temples and that communist atheistic governments stop meddling in the affairs of devotees. This sort of nonsense would not be permitted in countries outside India, such as the UK, where every church, mosque and temple runs its own affairs (while abiding by the laws of the country). You cannot force churches in the UK to ordain women as priests in the name of gender equality. The government cannot do this. It is up to the churches to decide whether or not they wish to make any changes. That is how it should be.
By all means let Hindus debate among themselves as to how, when and where equality in temples can be improved, how the practice of our religion can be improved to reflect its great values. But courts and governments have no business meddling in the affairs of our religion.
Swamiye sharanam Ayyappa. May Ayyappa bless us all with control of our senses and intelligence to distinguish right from wrong.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
Swami Sharanam
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