Sabarimala opens, Trupti packed off to Pune amid protests

| | KOCHI
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Sabarimala opens, Trupti packed off to Pune amid protests

Saturday, 17 November 2018 | Kumar Chellappan | KOCHI

Sabarimala opens,  Trupti packed off to Pune amid protests

The Kochi International Airport was literally held to ransom for almost 13 hours on Friday by devotees of Lord Ayyappa who had gathered in large numbers to prevent social activist Trupti Desai, who flew down to Kerala, from entering Sabarimala Temple.

The activist who reached the airport at 4.45 am could not come out of the terminal and was confined to the lounge till 6.50 pm when she told the media that she would return to Pune by a late night flight.

The devotees sat in front of the arrival lounge and sang Ayyappa bhajans non-stop till Trupti announced her decision to return to Pune. “I’ll come back soon unannounced and will surely visit Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala. Today no one is willing to help me to proceed to Sabarimala or to check into a hotel,” said Desai, who was accompanied by six of her associates.

Meanwhile, hectic activities are on to resolve the stand-off between the devotees and the Kerala Government as Travancore Devaswom Board decided to approach the Supreme Court with a stay petition. If the stay is granted, the Kerala Government may get some breathing space to implement the September 28 verdict of the SC.

The prelude to the Mandala Puja (the 41-day festival when devotees throng the shrine after observing penance) took place on Friday evening at Sabarimala Temple. The evening saw Thanthri (chief priest) Kantararu Rajeevaru and head priest (mel shanthi) AV Unnikrishnan Nampoodiri opening the sanctum in the presence of hundreds of devotees and performing the traditional Puja.

Later, the new head priest VN Vasudevan Nampoodiri assumed the charges from Unnikrishnan Nampoodiri. The new head priest was administered the sacred hymn by the Thanthri of the temple.

The temple was closed after the evening Puja and will be reopened on Saturday early morning at 3.30 by the new head priest. Vasudevan Nampoodiri began his strict and strenuous regimen for the next one year on Friday evening. He has to stay in the temple premises for the next one year and is not allowed to go out anywhere from the shrine in the deep forests. Nampoodiri’s day begins at 3 am everyday and concludes by 11 pm with the night Puja.

Devotees in large numbers have reached the foothills of Sabarimala by Friday evening. A heavy posse of policemen and women cops have been deployed in and around the shrine. The Kerala Government has taken all precautions to maintain the law and order in the shrine, which witnessed unprecedented protests by devotees as a follow-up to the September 28 Supreme Court verdict.

Meanwhile, the TDB disclosed by Friday evening that it would move a stay petition in the Supreme Court on Monday asking for time to implement the September 28 verdict of the Constitution Bench that allowed entry of women into the temple. This was announced by TDB president A Padmakumar.

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