The protest against the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple has created a rift between the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which administers the shrine, and the hereditary high priests, who conduct the rituals.
TDB member K.P. Sankaradas said the protest staged by the priests before the temple on Friday amounted to a violation of their code of conduct. In a counter, the Thazhamon Tantri family, the hereditary high priests, asserted that they were only safeguarding the age-old rituals and practices.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Sankaradas said the Tantri or Melsanthi was not above the Constitution and the laws of the land. “Any attempt to prevent the Supreme Court order from being implemented will go against the Constitution,” he said.
Mr. Sankaradas said the ongoing agitation against the Supreme Court order allowing women of all age groups to worship at the temple could be viewed as a conscious attempt by certain forces to make Sabarimala a centre of controversy and hence should be shunned.
Public Works Minister G. Sudhakaran also came out against the high priests for threatening to lock the doors of the temple if young women were allowed to enter the shrine.
“It is not as simple as closing down a shop during a hartal,” said Mr. Sudhakaran, who handled the Devaswom portfolio earlier.
The high priests, Kandararu Mohanararu, Rajeevararu, and Mahesh Mohanararu, have contended that they are bound to follow the ritualistic practices unaltered in accordance with the concept of the presiding deity as eternally celibate (Naishtika brahmachari). This right of religious practice should not be viewed as a violation, they maintained.
“We have always held the judiciary and its orders and the Constitution in very high regard. As per the tantric tradition, each deity has certain special attributes. The tantric rituals at Sabarimala restrict worship by women of reproductive age and hence the temple authority has imposed curbs on the entry of women in the age group of 10 to 50 years,” said Mr. Rajeevararu. The chanting of Ayyappa Sarana mantras, conducted by the priests assisting the Tantri and Melsanthi beside the 18 steps leading to the temple on Friday should not be treated as an agitation, they argued.
Palace sticks to stand
On Friday, the Pandalam Palace which has traditional links to the Ayyappa temple had directed the Tantri to close the sanctum, in the event of any ‘defilement’ caused by the entry of women in the 10-50 age group.
Palace secretary M.N. Narayana Varma said, as per the covenant, the Tantri had to close the sanctum and hand over the key to the temple authority.
The temple should be reopened only after performing the mandatory purification rites, if that becomes necessary, he said.