SC opens Sabarimala to women of all ages; temple tantri unhappy
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 28 : The historic Supreme Court judgment which on Friday allowed women of all ages to enter Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala in Kerala, has left the temple tantris (priests) and those associated with it by tradition disappointed.
They plan to file a review petition against the verdict that came after 12 years of legal battle and nearly a month ahead of the annual pilgrimage that starts in November.
Expressing disappointment, temple tantri (chief priest) K. Rajeevaru said: "While I will respect the court's directive, I wish tradition and culture is allowed to continue.
"The Travancore Devasom Board (TDB) will decide on the appeal challenging today's decision, only after a discussion."
On whether the temple will allow women from all age groups to come for the annual pilgrimage when it opens for the two-month long season in November, he said he did not know "how it would be managed this time".
"As of now, what I can say is at present there are no facilities that are there and now the TDB will have to do the needful," Rajeevaru added.
Until now according to the rule of the temple located on a hilltop in Pathanamthitta district, about 130 km from the state capital, has remained closed to women in the age group of 10 to 50 years.
State Minister for Devasoms (a watchdog body of temples which oversees the functioning of all the Devasom Boards in Kerala), K.Surendran said: "This has been a long standing legal battle both in the Kerala High Court and now Supreme Court."
"The state government has nothing to do as it is the TDB which has to see that the directive is followed," the senior leader from Communist Party of India-Marxist party said.
Over the years, the Left government has always been for opening the temple doors to all women.
TDB President A. Padmakumar said that they were now duty-bound to see that the directive of the apex court is put into practice.
"We will now speak with the state government to see what needs to be done. The long legal battle is over now," said Padmakumar.
Spokesperson of the Pandalam Royal Family, which has an integral role in the affairs of the Sabarimala temple, Sasikumar Varma said the palace was disappointed with the verdict
All the jewels of the temple is stored in the Pandalam Palace.
"Just by a verdict, the century old traditions of Sabarimala has been changed and that's very sad. Every religious place has its own traditions and culture that is practiced for its own reasons," said the palace spokesperson.
"If you look, devotees enter mosque with their footwear, but it does not happen in temples. Just like that, Sabarimala temple has its own traditions -- one of which is that all pilgrims who come to the temple undergo a 41 day penance, and that should not be forgotten," said Varma.
Meanwhile, Rahul Eashwaran, a family member of the Sabarimala tantri, said that they were deeply saddened by the verdict and would file a review petition.
"Various Hindu organisations will now get together and conduct special prayer sessions. We have time till October 16 to file a review petition which would be done after discussing with all.
"This is not a balanced judgement and Article 25 of the Constitution has been overlooked," said Eashwaran.
Geetha, a teacher by profession and a popular face in TV debates batting for gender equality, said that she welcomed the judgement.
"It's understandable that people like Eashwaran oppose this and it's quite natural. The verdict is welcome and now all those women who wish to visit the temple can do so now," said Geetha.
Although she added that she did not expect the coming season from November to see a big flow of women devotees, as all along till now they were told that it was out of bound for women.
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41 lakh illicit liquor seized, 1.84 lakh arrested in major drive: K'taka Minister tells Assembly
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
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He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
