As I read everything and talked a lot of people about the
Sabarimala Case, I got to know about that the petition by the Young Lawyers’
Association asking the Supreme Court to lift restrictions on women from
entering the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. After the Bombay High Court
ruled that women are permitted to get enter in the Hazi Ali Dargah, it is
supposed that the next destination can be Sabarimala temple. I heard a lot of
comments about this from a lot of people. Mostly people who believe in this
rule that women should not go to this temple. And when I asked them one simple
question, "Who placed the restrictions on women entering the temple?” And
the short answer according to them is, Ayappa,the God himself! According to
legend, Ayappa is celibate so that he can focus on answering the prayers of his
devotees. And he will remain celibate till the day kanni swamis (first-time
devotees) stop coming to Sabarimala. And people say it's about belief. But how
can belief depend on gender? My point is, if he is God, he must be above all,
above jealousy, anger, temptation, cast, creed, religion,
greed, gender, discrimination and all. How can a girl of any age
distract the God from focusing on the prayers of other devotees? If the
backstory is real, then is Ayappa really a God? I'm sorry but all my life my
parents made me believes that we all are children of God. So how can a father
get distracted or I would say fascinated from own children? I'm not trying to
disrespect any God and sentiments or belief of people. For me it's not about
equality or feminism, it's just a question which I'm trying to get answered,
that how is it possible to distract a God who is above all.
According to the puranas, Ayappa was a child born of
both Shiva and Vishnu, then how can he forget about all the Goddesses associated
with them. For me, prayers and belief have no gender. Then why a woman is not
permitted to get enter in the temple and pray? I can't believe that God made
this rule because as everybody say, God made us. If there is God he can't be so
small. People are saying let the temple authorities and trustees decide what to
do in their temples. But are the temples property of trustees and temple
authorities or they are for the common people? Moreover, if the temple belongs
to trustees and authorities, then what the God is doing there and why he is there?
The irony is
that the people still believe in the backstory. Even if the court lifted
restrictions, women who believe in the deity will not be queuing up to
go. This is, ultimately, all about faith. But the faith I know has
no gender.
How can the belief depend on Gender?