Sabarimala Tradition: Doubts and Answers.

There was chat between two brothers on the Sabarimala Issue on Facebook. one brother was an atheist while the other an theist. They had a very sensible debate on a very heated topic. I found it worth sharing so here it is... 


Me: Questions please!!!

Bro: Women have the right to enter the temple. And no one has a f**k in right to stop them.
Not even the god sitting inside.
No matter bleeding or normal, no God will ever treat his devotee untouchable!
All those bhakts (bhakts of Ayyappa) protesting for not letting women in are just fighting for nothing but anti 'women's rights'

Me: Temple is not a place of prayer... They are build for specific purposes...!
Temples are not places for social activities where everyone can claim a right...!
Temples are places where Beliefs are preserved!!!
Bleeding in Our Religion is never taken as impure... We have a temple of the bleeding Goddess called the Kamakhya Devi temple in Assam...!
300000 women believe in Ayyappa and they patiently waited outside the temple because the know the actual Tradition and hence are the true Devotees!!!
3 among the 2 women who tried to enter the temple were not Hindus... And the third was just doing her task assigned by her Company...!
Now where is the true Devotee here???

Bro:  Were those 300000 women supposed to be entering temple later ? Just clarify for me...

Me: Those Women have noted a sincere and nonviolent protest against the ones entering the temple!!!

Bro:  After the verdict....
Were women peacefully allowed inside?

Me: when it was clear that the situation was critical... Why were the 3 activists forced to enter with 100 policemen???
Is the 3 women's ego more imp than the critical situation!!!???

Bro: Those 3 women are idiot. Let's keep them aside. That's not my concern.
All I am asking is are those 300000 women who were waiting out,
allowed later into temple?

Me: If those women have the intention to enter the temple then would have joint the 3 activists!!!
But they didn't!!!
They respected the tradition and the Deity!!!

Bro: Tell me why women should not go inside temple?
It's not that 300000 woman didn't, that means they're right. They might be victims of misogyny too...
Maybe those 3 are standing for the right....which the 3 lakhs are ignorant about ! 
Why not women? What religion stops them?

Me: Constitution runs on Logic and Proofs!!!
Religion lives on Beliefs and faith!!!
It is the Belief that sees the Divine God in the Stone!!!
But logic will see stone as a stone!!!
That's the difference!!!

Bro: Why not let women pray to that stone?

Me: If u think it's a stone then where comes the question of praying???
Religion is beyond Logic!!!

Bro:   It's not about me here.....
Why disallow women...who have faith of God in that stone?

Me: Do u think anyone of the activists was a sincere devotee??
Can u defend even a single one???

Bro:  They were definitely devotees of woman rights. And maybe their success would have let to 300000 women finally worshiping Ayyappa again...
Our point of concern is not those 3 ladies.
Just a simple point. Why shouldn't women enter ? As simple as that..
Why not women?
Because if "tradition" or "religion" is all that you have ..
Then triple talaq too should have not been interrupted.
Give a solid base. Why not women inside?

I'm not expecting logic....
But people's reason for not allowing women. That might also be some faith mentioned in some religious texts. If written somewhere...show us that at least.
Not necessarily demanding logic from you. But a source of action.

Me: Nice Question!!!

Ayyappa is a Celibate Deity!!!
Who sat in penance in Sabarimala, abstained from sex and alcohol. It's the deity's will that anyone who followed the 41 day penance that he suffered along with all the other rules that I have noted in My_Blog_Sabarimala_Tradition then and then only he would give Darshan to the Devotee!!!
The penance that the true Devotee goes through is his own experience of life, that makes him closer to the deity.!!

Earlier when there were no modes of transport this ritual was started. The Terrain if u see is very difficult. Surrounded by the Tigers and the wild life's then!!!
In such a condition the devotee has to spend the 41 days of penance!!!
This u could say as test of the devotee!!!

But if see that a women in her fertile age has to suffers few days of pain in their menstruation cycle!!
Women have to face this condition even in the days of penance at least once!!!
This made the trekking of the women miserable and hence in-completion of the test of penance.
Keeping this in mind the then priests hence made a law or a rule to keep the fertile age women away from the trekking and so the penance. Once they complete this age they are free to visit!!!
That's why the traditional of waiting was installed in the women of the particular age group!!!

This is followed in respect to the Deity!!!
This is not a discrimination... It's a respect to the Deity!!!!
This does not exploit a women's life or an individual like the Triple Talaq!!!

In Triple Talaq the women is exploited!
Here it's not the case!!!
Even the Devasom Board accepted the entry of those women who completes the journey of penance!!!
But the point was over thrown by the SC!!!
Hindus have deep faith in the Ayyappa!!!
That's y the 300000 Hindu Women waited and the 3 activists
2 non Hindus and one a planted journalists created the scene to gain TRP!!


Bro:  So women are allowed after a certain age?

Me: It's not about who is allowed it's about what is the best for an Individual... Taking in account all the factors!!!

Bro:  Do all devotees need to go through that physical test of penance to enter and pray to Ayyappa?

Me: Yes... The penance is the core of the Tradition!!!

Bro: Are women allowed after fertile age?

Me: Yes... Women below 10 and above 50 are only involved in the penance!!

Bro: What if woman of age 30 comes and agrees to go through penance and that she can go through all of it.....will you let her ?

Me: who m I to let her... The point was put before the SC... but Lawyer Manu Singhvi denied it... And the SC too...

But it was only the Women who understood and knew the importance of Faith in Hindu Society... That's y the only Lady Judge gave her verdict against the dominating males....!

Bro: You means not literally you....
Anyone related to Sabarimala is what I meant to ask
Well... We don't completely know what arguments had been given in the court. Maybe there was a strong counter which led to 2 judges go otherwise.
Who knows!'

Me: I have read an article where I got this piece of info!!!

Me:Any questions bro???

And a long silence...!

Sabarimala Tradition

We all are aware of the Sabarimala Verdict by the SC. The Supreme Court has abolished the ban on Women between the age group of 10-50 which is their fertile years. Earlier the Kerala High Court had maintained the ban where the State Government itself supported this position in 1991. Now the issue has come up once again so we need to look into it from all the possible perspectives.

In this blog we would see what the actual tradition of the Sabarimala Shrine is! Later in other blogs we will discuss on other perspectives along with the issues related to the Shrine.

Ayyappa Swami is an Hindu Deity, a Representative of the God. He is a Naishtika Brahmachari deity which means a celibate deity. According to a story Swami Ayyappa decided to live the life of a celibate. He restrained himself from not only marriage but any sort of contact with the feminine gender. He lived his life in the penance and also abstained from any sort of distortion like alcohol, etc. In his respect his father build a temple which is today's Sabarimala temple, where the deity resided and spent his days of penance. He also resolved to solve the problems and questions of his devotees who successfully completes the 41 days of penance consisting of different difficult challenges and activities. This is somehow similar to the Pandharpur Vaari that is held in the Maharashtra. Let us see some of the important rules followed bu the devotees.

• The devotees are expected to dress-up like sadhus only in blue and black. 
• They are expected to fast partly, and eat only certain type of pure veg food.
• This is 18 miles long group trek, which consists of people without any caste or social discrimination. 
• There are men of all the ages joining the trek. 
• Young girls and older women also join. But the women between the fertility age group are advised not to trek for certain reasons which will be discussed in brief. 
• During the trek all the devotees call each other 'Swami'. 
• The devotees wear simple dress on the day of the pilgrimage up the hills and through the forest, many go barefoot, carry irumudi (a walking stick for regional Hindu yogis with two compartment little bag sometimes carried on head), wear Tulsi leaves and Rudraksha beads around their neck (symbolism for Vishnu and Shiva) while fellow Hindus gather along the trek path, cheering and helping them complete their journey
• They collect flowers from the western ghats to offer the deity. 
• Also they are needed to bathe in the Pambar river before they visit the actual Sabarimala temple.
• During the entire trek all the devotees are expected to restrain from any kind of violence, sex, and alcoholism. 
• All their mind should be focused only in the devotion for Ayyappa, which is the main motive.
• After the long trek there are 18 divine steps to the sanctum sanctorum of the Ayyappa Swamy Temple.
• Each step is a sacred one with a very deep meaning and understanding.
• Only the one's completing the 41 days trek are allowed to walk through these steps.

This all about the Sabarimala Shrine and its divine rituals. Now  let us see some important significance of the temple.

• The temple is not like the regular temple, it is opened only at few occasions throughout the year. Like during the Mandal Pooja, Makar Sankranti, Maha Vishnu Sankranti and the first 5 days of every Malayalam month.
• There are number of other temples of the same deity across the world. But rules for women to visit the shrine is only followed in this Temple only. The reason behind this is the temple being the first of its kind where all the rules for the devotees are followed very strictly by the Devasom and the Devotees. 
• Secondly, one of the main reason is the terrain where the temple is located. The rules were made during the time where there were no transport facilities. Also it could be difficult for the women in the fertile years to do 41 day long trekking.
• Third and important one is the belief that the deity is Naishtika Brahmachari. And every devotee who has faith in the deity and respect him will accept him as he is and respect his decision by not disturbing his celibacy. Its not a discrimination but a respect for the deity's decision to remain a celibate.
• The 18 sacred steps to the sanc tum sanctorum of the Shrine is divine in its own way. There are many stories related to the significance of the 18 steps. But According to one of them they say that the deity was the master of 18 weapons. Covering each step, the deity would leave each weapon on each step before entering into the Idol of the Sanctum Sanctorum.

This was all about the Tradition of the Sabarimala Shrine. In the Next blog we will cover the important issues and queries related to the Shrine and its tradition.

Navratri Special

MaaShakti

On this Festival of Navratri, lets give our first tribute to the first and the most deserving Women in our Life. She hardly receives any attention or rewards. So this is a small tribute to our Mothers!
Thank You Maa... Today, Whatever I am, Its just because of You...!

Adultery

CJI Dipak Misra retired last month. Before retiring he gave a series of  crucial decisions among which the Decision to scrap 497 was one of them. In the following we will be covering the major aspects of the law along with the advancement made in the law.

Marriage: When there is a couple who builds a consent within themselves and ties the knot of their committed relationship then it is generally called as a Marriage. We must note here that the consent is a very important aspect here. even if there is no consent from either side, the relationship collapses.

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OLD LAW

Adultery IPC 497 : When a person has a sexual intercourse with the wife of another man without the consent of that man is called as Adultery. The man who is involved in the adultery is guilty of the offence of adultery, who shall be imprisoned or fined or both under IPC 497. In this case the women was not considered as the abettor. Abettor means one who influences or convinces someone to commit the crime.

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In the earlier law there was a slight difference which showed discrimination between a man involved in the adultery and a woman involved in the adultery. As per the law, when a married man had an sexual intercourse with another women, without the consent of his wife, the law didn't applied there. This clearly discriminated between the man and the woman. Even the woman did not had the freedom. Whereas the woman involved in the adultery either married or bachelor cannot be charged under IPC 497. This shows that men had the freedom in adultery whereas the women did not.

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NEW LAW

When a PIL was filed in December 2017, to strike down the law, the Supreme Court accepted it. An argument was laid which stated the violence of article 14 and article 15 of the Constitution.

Article 14:- Equality before law The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth

Article 15:- The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them

Listening to the arguments of both the parties, the Supreme Court then decided to scrap down the law. There were few observations by the Judges.

• Under article 198, law gave only the husband the right to file a case against the man involved in the act of adultery.
• That concludes to a belief that the woman belong to her husband only.
• That does not gave the woman the freedom for her own thoughts and feelings, even if she voluntarily does a consented intercourse.

On 27th September 2018 a Five Judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India decided to scrap this IPC 497.

Now according to the new law if a married woman has a sexual intercourse with another man then the husband cannot file a case against the man involved in the adultery. But on the basis of adultery he can demand Divorce from his wife.

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Also, it is very important to note the changes. Equality before law with Gender Neutrality is taken care of by the Supreme Court of India.

• Now both the partners are free to have sexual intercourse with the person of their choice. 
• No legal action will be taken against the ones involved in the Adultery.
• But this wont mean Adultery is legal.
• Adultery still remains the base for Divorce.

While reading the judgement, Chief Justice Dipak Misra said, "it (adultery) cannot be a criminal offence," however it can be a ground for civil issues like divorce.

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Indian Air Force Day 2018 (IAF Day)

On 8th of October 1932, Indian Air Force was Established. So we celebrate 8th of October as the IAF Day. This is a small tribute to the Brave Forces of our Nation.

- Jai Hind!
- Jai Bharat!

Gandhi Jayanti 2018

This is a Small Tribute to the Father of Our Nation!!!

You must have shocked that what is the 4th one doing there. Don't get suprise it's just the latest one which completely relates us with the Modern India.

Since Independence India has undergone multiple advances and development. Similarly Computer has changed its shape from as large as the room to the hands. Today Mobile has become one of the most useful device which has replaced many things. This helped man to ease the tedious of the tedious jobs. But humans have taken it beyond a specific purpose. Today humans have become more dependent on mobiles.

Social Change: Due to Social Networking Sites a man can connect with a person with in any corner of the world. Truely we can say that Internet has shortened the distance between two people. But its not the whole scenario. If mobile is able to connect two corners of the world then it also has created distances with ur immediate neighbors as well. Today people are so engrossed in their own world that they hardly have any attention around themselves. Youth are more prone to this condition as they are more friendly with this technology. If we ask people of one generation earlier, they would tell how they used to build their relations only with vocal and real communications. Today it's getting lappsed. We as a human being must get aware of these things that we are humans first.

Man has made machine for comfort and not for peace and happiness.

Machines are to be used and humans are to be Loved.

There are many advantages of the Mobile too but at last machines are machines, they cannot replace a single man.

If Gandhiji would have been there today he would have unfortunately involved this 4th Monkey with the three!!!