THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Activist Rahul Easwar, a prominent figure in the campaign against the entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 at Sabarimala Temple, has said the Supreme Court's order on Friday will be appealed to a larger bench. In a four-one majority verdict, the top court on Friday revoked restrictions on women entering the temple following a 20-year legal battle, ruling that patriarchy cannot be allowed to trump faith.

Rahul Easwar, president of the Ayyappa Dharma Sena, said they were going for a review petition. Easwar is the grandson of Sabarimala priest Kandararu Maheswararu, who died in May this year.
"Our core argument is that presiding deity of Sabarimala shrine has some peculiarities. The deity is in the form of 'Naishtika Brahmachari' and has certain rights to uphold the privacy of the deity. And the deity's private space is the temple, so we were expecting a much more balanced verdict," he said.

"We will certainly a review petition. We will definitely go ahead with this fight because it affects the very core of temple belief and temple systems. Article 25 will be diluted... We still have the legal remedy with us. Until October 16 the temple is closed too, so we have time," he added.

In a Facebook live, he said that he was firm in his decision to fight for the cause of Sabarimala. As the first step, marathon prayer session will be held at Sabarimala on October 14 and 15.
“Similarly, we shall cooperate with Ayyappa devotee organisations and Hindu Community organisations to take further legal course. Several devotee organisations say that believers will block those enter Sabarimala, breaking the tradition,” he said.