Five officials were found guilty by a departmental probe for allowing the 11-year-old daughter of the Sabarimala temple chief priest to visit the shrine, where the entry of women belonging to the age group of 10-50 is prohibited, reports said on 10 May.
The Sabarimala Special Commissioner, in his report submitted to the High Court, stated the girl had reached Sannidhanam and offered prayers on 17 April, violating temple traditions. The report has recommended action against three state police and two officials of Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on charges of dereliction of duty. The officials included the Personal Security Officer of the Chief Priest, two women police officers, two contract staff of TDB posted at the entry to the trekking path to check entry of women belonging to the banned age group.
The report was based on a probe by the Vigilance Wing of the TDB, reports said citing official sources. The visit of the Chief Priest’s daughter to the temple in violation of tradition had sparked a row following which a probe was ordered by the TDB.
Temple to Have Women,
Lower-Caste Priests
With a Supreme Court prod, the 900-year old Vitthoba Temple in Pandharpur, Maharashtra, has decided to appoint its first women priests as also priests from the backward classes as part of an inclusive mission. “This is the first initiative in the country by any temple trust to break the centuries-old monopoly of the Brahmins over the temple puja and other rituals. We are keen that puja and rituals should be thrown open to all castes, especially non-Brahmins,” Anna Dange, chairman of the Vitthal Rukmini Temple Trust (VRTT) was reported as saying on 9 May.
The VRTT advertised last week, inviting applications for eight posts of priests from all practising Hindus and women well-versed in the two-or-three special pujas for Lord Vitthoba and his consort Rukmini, besides other temple rites and rituals. “We shall interview the candidates May 18 and finalise the appointments which shall be purely temporary and contractual with the remuneration depending on the merits of those selected,” said Dange.
The VRTT move was prompted by a Supreme Court judgement in January in a four-decade- old litigation dismissing the claims of exclusive ancestral rights over the earnings and rituals at the temple by the Badve and Utpat families here.