Kerala Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Friday said 51 female devotees between the age of 10 and 50 visited Sabarimala during the 2018-19 Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season.

His comment on the sidelines of a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram came close on the heels of the Supreme Court ordering round-the-clock security for Kanaka Durga and Bindu, who are facing death threats and intense social ostracism after having entered the shrine under police protection early January 2.

Details given to SC

Mr. Surendran said the government had submitted the details of the women who entered the sanctum to the Supreme Court in a sworn statement. It was possible that many more could have offered prayers at the shrine unobtrusively. “It was impossible for the government to know their respective age.”

He said the momentous verdict, upholding the universal principle of gender equality, had made it illegal for any entity to verify the age of women entering Sabarimala.

On September 28, the Supreme Court allowed females of all ages to enter the temple, upending the decades-old custom of barring women of reproductive age from worshipping at the hill shrine.

'The 51 had sought police protection'

As many as 7,564 women had reserved their darshan in advance online. However, only 51 had sought police protection.

The Minister said only those who announced their visit in advance on social media faced protests. Many more could have entered Sabarimala without drawing attention to themselves, while refusing to guess the number of such devotees.

A police official said that most of them who had sought police protection to worship at Sabarimala hailed from Tamil Nadu (24), Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Puducherry.

The police have submitted their Aadhaar details, mobile numbers and digital evidence supporting their claims to the Supreme Court.