Kollam, Oct 12 (DC): Actor Kollam Thulasi made a bizarre statement on Friday saying women who come to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, the revered shrine of Lord Ayyappa thrown open after the Supreme Court verdict, must be ripped in half.
The horrifying remark by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter at an NDA rally did not end there. Thulasi said that after ripping apart women entering the temple in half, one half should be thrown at the Chief Minister's Office in Thiruvananthapuram while the other half should be sent to Delhi.
Kollam Kanjaveli Kuttilazhikathu Thulasidharan Nair is an actor in Malayalam cinema and was speaking in Kerala.
The Supreme Court last month revoked the century old ban on women between 10 to 50 years from entering the Sabarimala temple.
The apex court’s verdict of allowing women of menstruating age to the shrine has drawn criticism from several quarters.
Temple authorities had said the ban was essential to the rites related to the temple's chief deity, lord Ayyappa, considered eternally celibate.
Kerala has witnessed widespread protests, and review petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court -- which recently refused to urgently hear one of them.
The Sabarimala temple opens on October 17 for a monthly puja. Rahul Easwar, the leader of the Ayyappa Dharma Sena, said thousands of devotees will lie down on the path leading to the temple, adding that if women want to enter, they can walk on the lying devotee's chests with their boots and slippers.