{"id":3016,"date":"2016-07-12T07:07:50","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T01:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016"},"modified":"2016-07-12T07:07:50","modified_gmt":"2016-07-12T01:37:50","slug":"sabarimala-kerala-temples-feminism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3016","title":{"rendered":"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple’s Lesson in Inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span><\/p>n delivering its final verdict on the contentious <\/span>Sabarimala temple case<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>Supreme Court<\/span><\/a> made a long-overdue observation: The right of a woman to pray is equal to that of a man. If you\u2019re surprised that such an obvious fact had to be spelled out by the highest court in the country, allow me to familiarise you with the ridiculous rule that prompted it.<\/span>\n\nFollowing the <\/span>Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules 1965<\/span><\/a>, the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala prohibited menstruating women between the ages of 10 and 50 from entering the sanctum sanctorum, as the deity Lord Ayyappa was considered to be celibate. According to the rule, <\/span>\u201cWomen who are not by custom and usage allowed to enter a place of public worship shall not be entitled to enter or offer worship in any place of public worship.\u201d Back in January, the Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the temple, had even made it mandatory for women to carry age-proof documents when they visited the temple premises.<\/span>\n\nThe case has been in court for the last 12 years, but it was only in October last year that the court referred the matter to a constitutional bench that commenced its hearings this July. Questioning the hypocrisy of the rule that encouraged <\/span>gender discrimination<\/span><\/a> with impunity, Justice Chandrachud said, <\/span>\u201cWhen a woman is made in the way that she is by God, or by nature for those who don\u2019t believe in God, then why should her menstrual status be a factor for anything, be it service or worship?\u201d<\/span>\n

But Sabarimala isn\u2019t the only temple to bar the entry of women. It is however, a reminder for a host of other religious places of worship to finally end their deep-seated prejudice toward women devotees.<\/blockquote>\nThe Court has finally reached a judgement, the archaic rule is scrapped, and the temple is now open to all.\u00a0<\/span>But Sabarimala isn\u2019t the only temple to bar the entry of women. It is however, a reminder for a host of other religious places of worship to finally end their deep-seated prejudice toward women devotees.<\/span>\n\nIn April 2016, after months of a high-profile protest campaign and a Bombay High Court directive to the Maharashtra government, the Shani Shingnapur temple ended a 400-year-old tradition. Except that local women have continued staying away from entering the inner sanctum of the temple <\/span>under pressure <\/span><\/a>from men who were actually never in favour of the tradition being broken. Brainwashed into believing that tradition trumps equality, no woman from the Ahmednagar district has climbed onto the platform or touched the deity, even though they don\u2019t oppose any other women doing the same.<\/span>\n\nWomen devotees are barred in Pushkar\u2019s Kartikeya Temple, in <\/span>Assam\u2019s <\/span><\/a>Patbaushi Satra, and at Ranakpur Temple in Rajasthan. This extends across several Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan temples. The reason? The supposed celibacy of the deity. <\/span>\n\nBack in Mumbai, the Haji Ali Dargah, which allowed the entry of women in 2016, continues to have separate entries for men and women, a strict dress code for <\/span>women<\/span><\/a>, and an unofficial restriction on women touching the tomb of the saint. The shrine\u2019s trust had earlier \u201cconceded before the SC that it would allow women to enter the sanctum sanctorum at par with men.\u201d Across Delhi\u2019s Jama Masjid and Nizamuddin Dargah, women have restricted entry, and are often disallowed from entering the mosque after sunset prayers. <\/span>\n\nThe very fact that India is dominated by temples and mosques that continue to hold the belief that women need to be restricted from exercising their fundamental right proves the significance of the Sabarimala hearing. The positive Sabarimala judgment isn\u2019t a win \u2013 it\u2019s only be the start. An induction into a world where equality, when it comes to an individual\u2019s right to pray, isn\u2019t just a far-fetched dream.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The verdict in the Sabarimala hearing is a reminder that Indian religious institutions need to finally end their deep-seated prejudice toward women devotees. Which is why, the Sabarimala judgment isn\u2019t a win \u2013 it\u2019s only the start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":3017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3452],"tags":[710,5925,1381,4147,520,5926,735],"class_list":["post-3016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-feminism","tag-hearing","tag-hindu","tag-menstruation","tag-religion","tag-sabrimala","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\nPutting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple's Lesson in Inclusion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The verdict in the Sabarimala hearing is a reminder that Indian religious institutions need to finally end their deep-seated prejudice toward women devotees. Which is why, the Sabarimala judgment isn\u2019t a win \u2013 it\u2019s only the start.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple's Lesson in Inclusion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The verdict in the Sabarimala hearing is a reminder that Indian religious institutions need to finally end their deep-seated prejudice toward women devotees. Which is why, the Sabarimala judgment isn\u2019t a win \u2013 it\u2019s only the start.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-12T01:37:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532007759.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arr\u00e9 Bench\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple's Lesson in Inclusion\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The verdict in the Sabarimala hearing is a reminder that Indian religious institutions need to finally end their deep-seated prejudice toward women devotees. Which is why, the Sabarimala judgment isn\u2019t a win \u2013 it\u2019s only the start.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arr\u00e9 Bench\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9 Bench\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3162a11ec8fc96b1945b22a7db113076\"},\"headline\":\"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple’s Lesson in Inclusion\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-12T01:37:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016\"},\"wordCount\":651,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1532007759.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Feminism\",\"Hearing\",\"Hindu\",\"menstruation\",\"religion\",\"sabrimala\",\"Women\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016\",\"name\":\"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple's Lesson in Inclusion\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1532007759.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-12T01:37:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3162a11ec8fc96b1945b22a7db113076\"},\"description\":\"The verdict in the Sabarimala hearing is a reminder that Indian religious institutions need to finally end their deep-seated prejudice toward women devotees. Which is why, the Sabarimala judgment isn\u2019t a win \u2013 it\u2019s only the start.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1532007759.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1532007759.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3016#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple’s Lesson in Inclusion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3162a11ec8fc96b1945b22a7db113076\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9 Bench\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/27785a75876f863a9969da540f665bb7d59053f4669b2653c29a6ffd987bcfbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/27785a75876f863a9969da540f665bb7d59053f4669b2653c29a6ffd987bcfbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/27785a75876f863a9969da540f665bb7d59053f4669b2653c29a6ffd987bcfbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arr\u00e9 Bench\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=30\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple's Lesson in Inclusion","description":"The verdict in the Sabarimala hearing is a reminder that Indian religious institutions need to finally end their deep-seated prejudice toward women devotees. Which is why, the Sabarimala judgment isn\u2019t a win \u2013 it\u2019s only the start.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple's Lesson in Inclusion","og_description":"The verdict in the Sabarimala hearing is a reminder that Indian religious institutions need to finally end their deep-seated prejudice toward women devotees. Which is why, the Sabarimala judgment isn\u2019t a win \u2013 it\u2019s only the start.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-07-12T01:37:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532007759.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arr\u00e9 Bench","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple's Lesson in Inclusion","twitter_description":"The verdict in the Sabarimala hearing is a reminder that Indian religious institutions need to finally end their deep-seated prejudice toward women devotees. Which is why, the Sabarimala judgment isn\u2019t a win \u2013 it\u2019s only the start.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arr\u00e9 Bench","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016"},"author":{"name":"Arr\u00e9 Bench","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/3162a11ec8fc96b1945b22a7db113076"},"headline":"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple’s Lesson in Inclusion","datePublished":"2016-07-12T01:37:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016"},"wordCount":651,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532007759.jpg","keywords":["Feminism","Hearing","Hindu","menstruation","religion","sabrimala","Women"],"articleSection":["Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016","name":"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple's Lesson in Inclusion","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532007759.jpg","datePublished":"2016-07-12T01:37:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/3162a11ec8fc96b1945b22a7db113076"},"description":"The verdict in the Sabarimala hearing is a reminder that Indian religious institutions need to finally end their deep-seated prejudice toward women devotees. Which is why, the Sabarimala judgment isn\u2019t a win \u2013 it\u2019s only the start.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532007759.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532007759.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3016#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Putting the Sab in Sabarimala: The Kerala Temple’s Lesson in Inclusion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/3162a11ec8fc96b1945b22a7db113076","name":"Arr\u00e9 Bench","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27785a75876f863a9969da540f665bb7d59053f4669b2653c29a6ffd987bcfbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27785a75876f863a9969da540f665bb7d59053f4669b2653c29a6ffd987bcfbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27785a75876f863a9969da540f665bb7d59053f4669b2653c29a6ffd987bcfbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arr\u00e9 Bench"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=30"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1532007759.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}