PAMBA: Sabarimala Thantri Kandararu Rajeevaru has said if women start coming to Sabarimala, the doors of the temple will be closed down. The temple priest was speaking to media persons when he reached Sannidhanam for Tulam pujas on Wednesday morning.

“If women start coming to temple, we shall lock up the temple door and hand over the key to Pandalam palace. Godavari Madhavi, a 40-year-old woman and her family were heckled and intimidated during the day as they walked towards the Sabarimala temple, which opens this evening for the first time since the Supreme Court overturned a centuries-old ban on women of menstruating age -- 10 to 50 years -- entering the shrine.

Madhavi, who is from Andhra Pradesh, began the climb to the hilltop shrine after reaching the base, Pamba, along with her children and parents. She had braved every obstacle in her way, with the police walking alongside.

But the police stopped near the shrine, claims the family, and asked them to proceed on their own. Ten minutes into their trek, the family had to abandon their plans of praying to Lord Ayyappa inside Sabarimala. Protesters were relentless as they chased Madhavi and her family, shouting slogans. They did succeed as the family, afraid to go on, turned back.

Another woman, Libi CS, was stopped at a bus stand by devotees. "Is this the way a lady should go to the temple. She claims to have observed the penance but if you look at the beads of the customary Sabarimala necklace, it's very clear that she has worn it today (Wednesay) or yesterday. This is not acceptable to us and she won't be allowed to go," said a group of angry women protesters.

Libi CS, a journalist, had posted on Facebook her plan to visit the Sabarimala temple. The protesters apparently saw her post and decided to block her the moment she reached a bus stand in Pathanamthitta, 65 km from the temple.

"Friends, four of us are leaving to Sabarimala today, which includes atheists like me and two devotees," said Libi's Facebook post.
The police shielded her from a group of protesters who had surrounded her at the bus stop. They threatened to burn the bus if it drove towards the temple's base camp, news agencies reported.