Faith made Andhra woman climb hill, fear stopped her

SABARIMALA: The jungle path leading to the hill shrine of Sabarimala resonated with shouts and screams instead of ‘sharanam’ chants as a woman in her forties walked past the signage at Pamba, which states ‘No entry for women past this point’, on Wednesday.

Madhavi (45), draped in a pink sari, walked alongside a group of elderly women to avoid protesters. She managed to walk about 300 metres, only to abandon the trek amid chaotic protests. As soon as she walked past a tent full of protesters, someone noticed her and rushed to block her group right at the entrance.

The women among the group, shocked by the sudden heckling, pulled out identification documents from their bags. Once they found out the age of Madhavi, one of the protesters gestured her to return. Even as the woman turned around, a police officer pushed the protester away and asked her to proceed.

As Madhavi started walking, more protesters started heckling her. She was almost surrounded by men who raised ‘sharanam’ chants. Some of them raised their voice against her while some were seen begging, with folded hands, asking her not to proceed. However, the police used strong force to shield her, allowing her to march forward. The woman held her daughter close to her as she kept walking. Police by then had created a human wall to protect her. Those who surrounded her were shoved away. But soon a group of youngsters made a human wall to block her path.

“I am 45, it’s my first visit. I am a believer,” the woman said in Telugu, which other pilgrims from Andhra translated. Madhavi was accompanied by two kids, a boy and a girl. Her daughter broke into tears amid the chaos.

“Personally, I disagree with the ruling allowing women’s entry. But she didn’t budge because of her faith. Basically, she didn’t know how serious this was. She also took a dip in Pampa,” said Madhavi’s relative Sathyavathi (60). Madhavi took the path normally used by pilgrims who return from the hill shrine but approached a police officer to tell him she was returning after walking 50 metres. As the woman returned to the starting point in Pamba, protesters chanted ‘sharanam Ayyappa’. “We were determined to give her protection but the woman expressed her unwillingness to continue the trek,” said deputy SP R S Pillai.

Another woman, C S Liby, who works as an editor of a news portal, had announced through her social media page on Tuesday that she would take the pilgrimage to Lord Ayyappa temple.

Liby set out from her residence at Cherthala on Wednesday morning and reached Pathanamthitta town. But there, she faced a setback as devotees spotted her and blocked her at the KSRTC bus station. The police had to intervene to save her.