SABHARIMALA..............SWAMIYE SARANAM AYYAPPA
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India is supposed to be a secular country and our constitution has been written based on that secular concept. As such is it right to decide on an issue like the entry of women to Sabarimala Temple which is non secular in nature based on that constitution? It is clear that the Constitution bench of the supreme court were deliberating and deciding on something on which they had no authority at all. In fact they were wasting precious seven days of the court in listening to the arguments and counter arguments on the misguided principle of equality of the sexes.
If it were a railway station ,office, shop or a government premises, we can object to the discrimination of sexes but never on the practices being observed in the temples. The courts cannot infringe on the decisions of the temple authorities which are evolved as per the guidelines decided by the Thanthri who is the supreme authority of that temple. The constitution assures everyone to observe and practice his or her religion. Then how can that constitution be used to subvert the practices of a Hindu who is prepared to accept and abide to the customs which vary from temple to temple?
Let us take a court itself. We find that there is a practice of bringing the Judge to the court in a procession and with a person carrying a metal shaft in his hand. When the judge enters the court all stand up. The advocates are supposed to wear black coats and tie a white band on their collarless shirts. They are supposed to address the judge as His Lordship etc. Are such things mentioned in the constitution? The advocates sit on chairs at a lower level while the judge sits on a big chair on a high pedestal. Is it not discrimination? It is evident that such practices were evolved in a pre-independent era and even now the system refuses to take away this ridiculous egocentric attitude.
The women are not at all discriminated in the Sabarimala at al. Only thing is that they are not allowed to go there during a certain period in their life span for obvious reasons. This practice has been going on for more than a hundred years .Why do you want to change this, especially when most of the respectable ladies of the Kerala do not have any objection to this custom? There can be instances where a lady or two might have gone to the temple while being in the prohibited age group but that can be taken as an aberration and they did it with the view to flaunt the system.
In the earlier days the devotees went to the Sabarimala temple only after 41 days of strict rituals and celibacy. Probably the ladies did not go because they could not practice this Vratham for the required number of days. A person who has decided to go to Sabarimala starts on the Vratha by wearing the Tulasimala. Then he becomes Ayyappa himself and is not even supposed to see a woman who is in her periods. He is required to take an immediate bath and some rituals if the contact happens. To avoid this inconvenience wherever he goes, he loudly calls out Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa so that such ladies and also others who have lost their near ones recently can give way to this Ayyappan.
The beauty of the Hindu religion( which itself is a misnomer),really known as the Sanathana Dharma is that it gives the right to anyone to worship God in any way he or she likes. And apart from the basics, the practices in every temple is dfferent from each other. In the temples outside Kerala the devotees can enter in any dress and can even touch the idol. But here, the devotees are required to remove their shirts. Untill recently the ladies also were not allowed to go wearing the stiched upper garments. The Sreekovil which is the sanctum sanctorium is out of bounds to all except the priests .Even the king is not allowed the Sreekovil. As a practice nobody goes to the temple before the expiry of the restricted days immediately after the death or birth of any one in their family. This applies to the women also during their periods. To my knowledge such things are not observed in the temples outside the state. Who wants to change such unwritten code of conducts? Really not the general public in Kerala including ladies who have been brought up in the good family traditions. Should we fall a prey to those few who think they are modern without knowing the science behind the construction of the temples ,its representation, and the role of the Thantri who is the suprme authority of the particular temple?
We were under the rule of Mogals as well as British.They took away the wealth Of the temples as much as possible and took over the controls.
But still they never interfered with the running of the institutions,nor tamperered with our traditions. But we find that in the independent India the opinion of one or two in the apex court is paving the way for the local governments with vested interests to dictate what to do and not to do against the wishes of crores of devotees.
The arguments of some educated ladies who say that the periods are a natural thing and the modern techniques give sufficient protections to them as well as their infants are nothing but silly. They refuse to understand the greatest principle of all that any part or thing in our body is serene and devine only as long as it remains inside the body. The hair, nail,blood ,urine or shit becomes dirty and unhygienic when it is removed from our body. We do not step over such items and wash ourselves when we had any contacts. Use of perfumes only suppress the odour but not eliminate them.
The Supreme Court is talking of the equality of sexes and discrimination. But are the men and women equal? Ours is the only tradition which put the women in high esteem. If we believe that the women and men are equal in all respects do we need to provide them separate queues, toilets or any other special conveniences? Why cannot they be asked to remove their upper garments when they enter the temples? They also have the right to enjoy or suffer in the crowd.
The equality of men and women never exists .They are totally different and I would say the women are superior to men in every aspect. They are stronger in body as well as mind. They have more endurance power than men and are more intelligent. They can conceive a child, carry him for ten months, deliver and make him grow to be a man. Is there any man in the world who can do it? They can entice any man if they want however strong he is and make him a slave. Even after thousands of years of rigorous penance, Viswamitra was helpless in front of the celestial nymph. Even the almighty Siva could not control himself when he saw Mohiny resulting in the birth of Ayyappa. Probably it was because of this awareness of the power of women that Sri. Ayyappa went to the forest and did not want to see the women in his premises to protect his Brahmacharya so that he did not repeat the mistake his father did. As such why should the women want to go to Sabarimala and disturb him?
It is my belief that the learned judges have come to their conclusion based on half truths and without understanding the Thantric practices and science of the temples. Have any one of them gone to this temple in the proper way? At least they shoud have visited the place and tried to understand the actual situation in the proper perspective. The dissent of the lady judge is specially noteworthy.
TheThandry”s is the last word. He can very well refuse permission to implement the directives of the Supreme Court. At least he can say that his upbringing and tradition does not permit him to give consent and if the women are entering the temple it will be against his wishes. No court or government can force him to give his consent. The devaswam board cannot remove him from his post and appoint another as he is not an employee of the Board. If he is overruled, tomorrow a person can ask why it is necessary to carry the Pallikettu on your head while climbing the sacred steps. Also why cannot you use chappals or shoes as the inside of the temple is dirty? We should mobilize our resources to stay the verdict of the Apex Court.
J.KANNAN, M.Com, FIATA
"WE DON'T THINK TO BREATHE
WE BREATHE TO THINK"
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