No new affidavit submitted in SC since 2016 on Sabarimala women's entry: TDB prez

Pathanamthitta: Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P S Prasanth on Wednesday said the board’s last affidavit in the Supreme Court, filed in 2016, had sought to uphold Sabarimala’s traditional rituals and customs regarding women’s entry. "No new affidavit has been submitted since then, and there is no relevance for that anymore," he told the media.

Prasanth was responding to a question about whether the TDB would change its position in the apex court regarding the entry of women of menstruating age group into the Lord Ayyappa shrine. The opposition Congress and BJP have asked the TDB to clarify its stance on the issue.

The TDB president said in the past four to five years, all rituals and customs have been strictly followed at the Sabarimala temple, without any deviations.

"The matter is pending before the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court. As far as the TDB is concerned, the last affidavit submitted by the Board in 2016 wanted to protect the rituals and customs of the shrine in connection with the women's entry issue," he said.

Noting that operations are running smoothly at the Lord Ayyappa temple, Prasanth said 54 lakh pilgrims visited the hill shrine during the last annual pilgrimage season. With the coordinated efforts of the government, TDB, Pandalam royal family, people's representatives and various organisations, the last pilgrimage season could be completed without any complaints, he said. "That is our objective. The objective of the upcoming Global Ayyappa Sangamam is also the same. The development of Sabarimala," Prasanth added.

In 2018, the Supreme Court lifted the ban on women of menstruating age entering the Sabarimala temple, holding the restriction "unconstitutional". The verdict triggered widespread protests and remains under review by a larger bench.

The CPM and the LDF government had come under severe attack from a section of Ayyappa devotees, the Congress-led alliance and the Sangh Parivar for facilitating the entry of two women of menstruating age into the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.

The TDB president arrived at Pandalam here to invite the royal family members to the Ayyappa Sangamam organised by it in association with the state government on September 20. The erstwhile Pandalam royal family has a significant role to play in the traditional rituals and practices of Sabarimala.

Asked about the invitation, Prasanth said everything has been communicated to the royal family. "They raised some confusion related to the cases registered in 2018 (in connection with the Sabarimala agitation). Everybody knows about it. We assured them that it will be brought to the attention of concerned authorities," he said.

Meanwhile, M R Suresh Varma, a member of the Pandalam royal family, said they were yet to take a call about their participation in the Ayyappa Sangamam. "We will hold a meeting of family members to discuss the matter. We will take a call in this regard next week," he said.

The Pandalam royal family, which has significant traditional roles over the Sabarimala temple, had strongly opposed the then Left government’s stand allowing women of all ages to enter the shrine after the Supreme Court verdict in 2018.
(With PTI inputs)