SC slams Kerala stand on women's entry to temple

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court judges have said that denying women the right to worship at the temple could amount to a violation of their constitutional right to equality. The court observed that “In the Hindu religion there is no denomination of a Hindu male or female. A Hindu is a Hindu.” The statements come in the wake of the centuries-old ban on women of reproductive age in the famous Sabarimala temple. The trust that handles the temple, and the state government has vouched in favour of the ban. They argued the deity at the temple is a brahmachari or celibate, and the presence of women who are capable of giving birth impedes upon his “purity.” Judges said that argument, based in ritual and traditions, is unlikely to hold in the context of what the constitution guarantees.