A young dalit woman has now claimed on Facebook that she has successfully completed her pilgrimage to Sabarimala. Manju, a native of Kollam, on a Facebook page titled 'Navothana Keralam Sabarimalayilekk' (that translates to Rennaisance Kerala to Sabarimala) claimed she visited the shrine on Tuesday. A picture of her standing on the premises of the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala has also been shared by the group on Facebook.
The lady, however, seemed to have visited the hilltop shrine disguised as an elderly woman with grey hair and clad in a black saree, her picture shared on Facebook suggests. It is presumed that she decided to do so fearing protests from Ayyappa devotees. Manju claimed she visited the temple on Tuesday at 7:30am, spent about two hours at the shrine before trekking down. Tuesday was the first day of Bharat bandh called by trade unions and hence, she anticipated fewer people.
READ: Sabarimala: Two women below 50 years of age enter temple?
Manju said that she did not face any resistance from the fellow devotees. She added that she also did not seek police protection.
At the same time, neither the Kerala government nor the police have confirmed Manju's claims.
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This is not the first time she had attempted to visit the Sabarimala temple. Her attempt to enter the shrine in November did not succeed after she was turned away by protesting devotees. Manju is a leader of the Dalit Mahila Federation.
The development comes in the backdrop of a standoff between the Left Front government and the BJP over the Sabarimala issue. The BJP and the opposition Congress have criticised the Pinarayi Vijayan government's stubbornness in implementing the Supreme Court order reversing the tradition that barred women in the menstrual age group from visiting the shrine.
Last week, Kerala came to a standstill after two women, Bindu and Kanakadurga, in their 40s, entered the Sabarimala shrine with police protection. The duo was soon followed by a Sri Lankan woman who also visited the shrine the next day.
