Trupti Desai can't enter Sabarimala: Travancore Devaswom Board

Kottayam: Trupti Desai, the Mumbai-based woman activist, will face stiff resistance when she plans to visit the Sabarimala temple along with 100 other activists in January. Travancore Devaswom Board  president  Prayar Gopalakrishnan  and temple protection activist Rahul Eswar  have vowed to prevent her entry saying they would not allow the  customs and rituals of the temple to be broken.    It may be recalled that  the campaign led by Trupti Desai, founder of the Bhumata Brigade, had led to the lifting of the ban on women  at the Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra.

Mr  Prayar Gopalakrishnan told DC that the state government was  supporting the entry of women at the Sabarimala temple against the precedent and the ritual  according to which menstruating women (usually between 10 and 50 years of age) are not allowed to  conduct darshan. Mr  Rahul Eswar said  that he would prevent the visit of Trupthy Desai under the aegis of  Ayyappa Seva Sanghom. “At least three women will be used as a human wall to stop  Trupthy. Her  visit  is a show-off,” he  told DC.