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JAIPUR, INDIA, December 20, 2003: The newly elected Minister of Education of Rajasthan, Ghanshyam Tiwari, created history on his birthday. He broke an ancient tradition and took his wife and daughter inside the sanctum-sanctorum of the Ghushmeshwar Siva temple in Siwad. In the process, Tiwari opened the temple area to all women, many of whom have expressed resentment at being kept out of the shrine. “I told them that if my wife couldn’t go in then neither would I,” says Tiwari, who says he wasn’t aware of the rule when he arrived at the temple in Sawai Madhopur’s Siwad area along with wife, son and daughter. As the priests objected, Tiwari and his son stuck to their ground. They had almost turned to go back when the temple trustees came to their rescue and the situation was diffused. The entire Tiwari family then entered the sanctorum and offered prayers. Soon after that, the temple trust passed a resolution allowing the entry of women into the sanctum-sanctorum. “Actually, every time a woman asked us why she was not being allowed inside we never had a reply,” says Prem Prakash Sharma, general secretary of the Ghushmeshwar Shiva temple trust, who firmly backs Tiwari’s move. “We were ashamed, but were not able to break tradition. Now the doors have been opened and we will gladly welcome women in.” Ironically, adds Sharma, “The biggest disciple in the history of this temple (a centuries-old Siva shrine) was a woman. Ghushma, after whom the temple is named, was a brahmin who performed puja here. It is only in the recent past that the rulers of this area banned the entry of women. We don’t know exactly why or when.” Former minister and Independent MLA from Siwad ‘Thakurain’ Narendra Kanwar, herself a woman, however, is not happy with the break with tradition. “This whole thing was never about banning women from the sanctorum but just ensuring that they did not make the place impure,” she said. “There is no other way to stop illiterate village women from entering the temple while they are menstruating. And if they enter, they vitiate the temple’s atmosphere. There are always bad repercussions when a temple is made impure,” she added. But Sharma, who believes in empowerment of women, brushes aside such objections. “Barring a few priests who have been at loggerheads with the trust since it was created 10 years ago, no one else has protested against this… In the village, women are happy and we are going to try and ensure that their entry is not stopped.”

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