Updated

Sabarimala, Jan 2 (IANS): The Sabarimala temple in Kerala was shut on Wednesday "for purification" after two women from the hitherto banned age group said they had prayed there, and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan confirmed this was true.

"Yes, it's true. The women have had the temple darshan," the Chief Minister said in Thiruvananthapuram.

As the news spread, the chief priest and temple tantri held a meeting and also held talks with the Pandalam Royal family and decided to close down the hill shrine.

Kantararu Rajeeveru, the tantri, said the temple had been shut for "purification" and would reopen later.

The two women, Bindu and Kanaka Durga, said they had 'darshan' at 3.30 a.m.

Earlier report

Two women below 50 years enter Sabarimala temple

Sabarimala (Kerala), Jan 2 (NIE): Two women below the age of 50 entered the Sabarimala temple in Kerala Wednesday, with the help of police in mufti. Confirming that the women, Bindu and Kanakadurga,went inside the temple under security cover, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters, “There were hurdles for women to climb and enter Sabarimala temple. If they have entered the temple today, there must not have been any hurdles. It is true that they have entered. Police had been given instructions to provide protection to any woman who wants to climb.”

The women, in their 40s, started their climb around midnight and reached inside the sanctum sanctorum early morning at 3:45 am. A recording of their entry into the shrine has been doing rounds on WhatsApp. According to the video footage, the women, have not climbed the sacred 18 steps used by pilgrims who take the 41-day vow and carry the sacred offering of ‘irumudikettu‘. They have used a side entrance, used by VIPs and the media, which gets them directly in front of the sopanam and into the sanctum of the temple. They later returned to Pamba.

The two women, both residents of north Kerala, had previously tried to climb up to Sabarimala in the last week of December but had been blocked by massive protests. Tight security arrangement has been made at Kanakadurga’s house, fearing protests. Her family has also been shifted to a safe location.

Police officials at the base camp in Pampa said they were unaware of the two women’s whereabouts. The District police chief is not responding to calls. The Travancore Devaswom Board and the priest’s family are checking the camera footage to verify the claims.

Ayyappa Dharma Sena leader Rahul Easwar, who spearheaded the protests against the apex court’s verdict allowing the entry of women below 50, said the chances of the two women making it inside the shrine are “extremely less” and that they would verify the footage and take appropriate action. “I think they are lying. The chances are extremely less and there are over 1 lakh male devotees. We have to verify (the videos)…but the chances are very less. We will see and take the appropriate action,” he told NDTV.

Women in the age group of 10-50 years are traditionally barred from entering the Sabarimala temple. But the Supreme Court, through its September 28 landmark verdict, lifted the curb and permitted women of all age groups to offer prayers at the temple. While Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan welcomed the judgment, the state Congress and BJP opposed it.

Massive protests rocked Kerala after the Supreme Court verdict. Over a dozen women were stopped by the protesters when they made their way to the shrine. Since the temple first opened after the SC’s judgment, violent protests, a state-wide strike and prohibitory orders have dominated Kerala.