INDIA, March 9, 2016 (Hindustan Times): Police detained a group of 40 women planning to break a centuries-old prohibition on the entry of female devotees into the sanctum sanctorum of the Trimbakeshwar temple in Mahrashtra’s Nashik district on Monday. The temple is located some 18 miles from Nashik and is a major Lord Shiva shrine, containing one of the 12 jyotirlingas.
Marching under the Bhumata brigade banner, the women set off from Pune to enter the Shiva temple on Mahashivratri despite stiff resistance from the temple’s trustees and local villagers. The outfit was led by Trupti Desai, who made an attempt to breach an identical ban at the Shani Shingnapur temple in Mahrashtra’s Ahamednagar district on Republic Day but was stopped by police. This is the latest in a series of similar attempts across the country that has sparked a debate on religious traditions that bar female devotees from entering the inner chambers of shrines, sometimes for reasons of pollution.
The political establishment has been dragged into the debate. “Our democratic set up allows everyone to put up their sides. When two sides disagree on certain things, the issue can be resolved by dialogue,” said Maharashtra finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, during his visit to Trimbakeshwar temple.