After Bindu and Kanakadurga, now a Sri Lankan woman enters Sabarimala

Overturning an age-old ban, Indian Supreme Court in September last year allowed women between 10 to 50 to enter the temple. Despite the court's order, several groups have been protesting against the direction given by the apex court and prevented women from entering the temple.

Amid repeated failed attempts, two women entered the temple for the first time this week, triggering violence and shutdown in the southern state on  Thursday.

Now, as per media reports, police have identified the new woman devotee who entered the temple as Sri Lankan national Sasikala.

Her passport gave her date of birth as December 3, 1972, reported The Hindu.

Officers told the newspaper Sasikala had walked up the “18 Holy Steps” without any hindrance and offered her prayers at the sanctum. 

“She finished her darshan at around 9.30 p.m. and reached Pampa safely by 11 p.m," sources told The Hindu.

A senior police officer told the newspaper plainclothes officers, including women, gave Sasikala and her family covert security. The squads, however, did not make their presence or the security cover visible.

Two women create history:

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the two women in their mid 40s entered the shrine on Wednesday with police protection, media reports said.

Video footage of the incident, where two women could be seen entering the temple, has gone viral on social media.

The women reportedly reached the temple around 3:45 am.

According to some media reports, these two women have been identified as activists Bindhu and Kanakadurga. They have been hiding since then.

After the women's entry,  the temple was closed for "purification rituals", a move that was slammed by various outfits saying it was practising untouchability.

Violence breaks out in the southern state:

Protesting against the entry of two women, violence erupted in Kerala as a group named Sabarimala Karma Samathi called for a strike on Thursday.

Armed with stones and crude bombs protesters clashed with the police as more than 30 cops were hurt and 750 people were arrested in the dawn-to-dusk showdown.

A man, who was injured during the protest, has reportedly died.

Congress-BJP voice similar stands:

Meanwhile, the key opposition parties in the state, Bharatiya Janata Party supported the strike and the Congress observed it as a 'black day'.

Supreme Court, a historic order and later protests:

On Sept 28, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had lifted the ban on women's entry into the Sabarimala temple declaring the relevant rules as unconstitutional.

Following the top court's verdict, the shrine opened on Oct 18 for the first time allowing menstruating women, belonging to the age group of 10 to 50, to enter the temple.

However, several men and women had protested outside the temple, and tried to prevent the entry of women in the shrine.

For centuries, menstruating women had been banned from entering the temple dedicated to Lord Ayyappa.

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