Temple allows only men to worship.
By Sreekanth A Nair
A group of women activists, who forcibly tried to enter the famous Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar in the state of Maharashtra, were stopped by the Ahmednagar police on Tuesday. They wanted to break the centuries-old tradition of the temple that prevents women from entering the main shrine area.
The police stopped the group of around 450 women at Supa, 70-Kms. away from the temple, to avoid a confrontation between them and locals. The villagers had also gathered around the temple to prevent the entry of the activists.
Bhumata Ranragini Brigade president Trupti Desai and her other group activists, joined by a few men, who entered Ahmednagar district in a convoy of around 50 vehicles on Tuesday afternoon, were marching towards the temple when they were detained by the police. The police released them later.
“The manner in which police behaved with us is objectionable…we were going peacefully to exercise our right of offering prayers…they are stopping us from going to a temple which is a place of worship. The country is celebrating Republic Day…for us it’s a ‘black day,’ but we will go to the temple,” Desai told mediapersons.
Anticipating trouble, the temple trust had deployed 250 volunteers, 60 women volunteers and another 250 police personnel, besides another 40-odd private security guards to secure the temple and prevent the women activists from entering the shrine.
They expressed happiness over the prevention of activists.
“We’re happy that there was no standoff between us and the protesters. We hope that this action will resolve the issue once and for all,” Shalini Lande, one of the trustees of the temple was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
Bhumata Ranragini Brigade had earlier said that they would hire a helicopter to enter the temple if they were prevented from entering the proper way. They had also claimed that 1500 women would participate in the march.
“We have already booked a helicopter and if we are not permitted to enter from the open ground, we shall drop ladders from the chopper and climb down. We are not scared of any security since women’s rights are concerned,” Desai had said on Monday.
The unique open temple has no walls or roof. A self-emerged (svayambhu) five-foot-high black stone stands on a platform and is worshipped as Lord Shanidev.
The temple platform stands in the centre of the small village, also known as Sonai and attracts millions of tourists and devotees from across the country and abroad.