Updated

Apr 8 (PTI/Agencies): Shani Shingnapur temple trust has decided to lift restriction on women from entering the sanctum sanctorum soon after over 100 male devotees brazenly stormed into sanctum sanctorum on the occasion of Gudi Padwa on Friday, according to reports.

Bhoomata Brigade activists who had forced entry into the inner sanctum of the temple were assaulted and prevented by villagers even after Bombay High Court had backed the activists' right to enter the temple's sanctum.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also had assured that the court's order will be implemented in true spirit.

Details are awaited.

Earlier:

Shani temple row: Over 100 male devotees storm into inner sanctum

Ahmednagar, Apr 8 (NDTV): For months, women activists, in particular Trupti Desai, have tried unsuccessfully to enter a famous temple to Saturn or Lord Shani in Maharashtra. Today, it was 100 men who forced their way into the inner sanctum, in defiance of temple officials.

It was only over the weekend that the temple reversed a centuries-old rule and said neither men nor women would be allowed into the area that has an idol placed on an outdoor platform. The new restrictions were introduced to circumvent a court ruling that women and men must have equal access to Hindu places of worship. To keep women out, the temple barred entry for male devotees as well, and said only male priests would be allowed into the inner sanctum.

Temple officials - and thousands of locals who live near the Shani Shingnapur temple in the Ahmednagar district - have fought hard to maintain the tradition that discriminates against women.

On April 4, Ms Desai was once again barred entry. In earlier attempts, Ms Desai has been detained by the police as she neared the temple; once, she said she would lower herself into the temple with ropes from a helicopter, but was denied flying rights by local officials.

The government has pledged to the Bombay High Court that it will enforce a law that comes with six months in jail for preventing someone from offering prayers at a temple. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, over the weekend, reiterated his support for the court order.

"There is no place for discrimination in Hindu culture," he said at a public rally. We will implement the honourable high court's decision in true spirit."

Last year, after a woman devotee managed to offer prayers to the Shani idol, a priest conducted an emergency cleansing ceremony.

The popular Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala, which denies entry to women of reproductive age, is the subject of a petition in the Supreme Court.