Three young women, who wanted to offer prayers at Sabarimala temple, on Monday made a fervent plea to the government, the police and the faithful to stand by them.
Reshma Nishanth and Anila from Kannur, and Dhanya from Kollam said they were ready to wait until their wish was fullled. Till then they vowed to observe the customary vratham (penance).
Also Read
- Disaster in temples: Tragic stampedes that happened in India
- ‘Devotees visit temples to see god, not faces of CM, MLAs’: Kerala HC raps Travancore Devaswom
- Sabarimala: A tale of flickering light in the woods
- 'No uncontrolled situation', says Kerala CM amid severe criticism over 'crowd mismanagement'
- Why Kerala HC barred production, sale of 'Aravana Prasadam' at Sabarimala
"I have been going through severe psychological pressure. I can't get out of my house. Wherever I go, news gets spread that 'Reshma Nishanth' has gone to Sabarimala'," Reshma Nishanth said at the press meet on Monday. "I have a daughter. There should be a circumstance when even she would be allowed to go to Sabarimala," she added.
Dhanya said she was disheartened to see the tense atmosphere in Sabarimala. However, she added that she would not allow people with vested interests to make gains out of their faith. "Therefore we are not going now. But we will not remove the sacred chain until we visit Sabarimala," she added. "Now, only three of us have come forward. But there are many who want to visit Sabarimala and support our course.”
Anila too said that she found herself making too many enemies after her decision to visit Sabarimala. She hoped the next generation women would definitely be able to visit Sabarimala.
The temple had opened Friday evening for the 64-day annual pilgrimage season as the stand-off continued over entry of women of child-bearing age into the shrine following a Supreme Court order on September 28.