Sabarimala temple closes today

Sabarimala (Kerala): The Sabarimala temple’s first pilgrim season will end on Monday at 10 pm after the five-day puja.

The hill-top shrine in Kerala had opened on October 17, first time after the Supreme Court's historic verdict, allowing women in menstruating age groups to enter the temple.

In the last five days, ten women between 10-50 years have been stopped by angry devotees and protesters from entering the 800-year-old shrine in Kerala’s Patthanamthitta district.

On Sunday, a 47-year-old woman suffered panic attack at the entrance of the Lord Ayyappa temple after protesters surrounded and heckled



her.

Journalists who have been reporting from Pamba have been told by the police to leave the area as they had information about targeted attacks on the media, news agency ANI reported.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for the violence last Wednesday at Sabarimala. In a blog on Facebook, he said, "Sabarimala has a uniqueness that other temples lack. It allows entry for people of all faith. Sangh Parivar and RSS have always been intolerant of this fact. They have made many attempts to erase this distinction of Sabarimala."