The Sabarimala temple opened for the annual two-month pilgrimage amid heavy security at that time a-12-year-old girl from Puducherry, was stopped by police on Tuesday morning.
The girl who had come for darshan to Lord Ayyappa came along with her father, was not allowed to proceed to the shrine from Pamba.
According to police, the age of the girl, with “irrumudikettu” (offerings to Lord Ayyappa) had been shown as 10 in the virutal Q booking.
However, when a women police examined the girl’s aadhaar card she found that the girl was 12 years old and refused to allow her to proceed further from Pamba to the shrine complex.
It has been a hotbed of protests since Supreme Court last year lifted the century-old traditional ban on the entry of women of menstruating age to the temple.
After those accompanying the child were informed about the current situation in Sabarimala, her father and other relatives proceeded to the temple.
Supporting the shrine’s tradition, a nine-year-old Keralite girl, who came to the temple complex from Karnataka on Monday, had a placard around her neck inscribed with the words “Ready to wait. Will visit the shrine after attaining 50 years.”
Hailing from Thrissur, Hridyakrishnan said she had visited the shrine thrice and would have darshan of Lord Ayyappa only after she reaches 50.
Her father, Harikrishnan had said devotees are those who protect traditions and beliefs.
While two women in the barred age group of 10-50 years had been stopped by police on Monday from visiting the hill shrine, on Saturday, when the temple opened, at least 10 young women from Andhra Pradesh had been sent back.
The Pamba base camp is at the foothills of Sabarimala, about 5 km from the shrine.
It is reported that , Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran has declare that Sabarimala was not a place for activists to display their activism. He said the government would not encourage such women who want to visit the shrine for publicity.
