The Supreme Court is likely to deliver its verdict Friday on whether women aged between 10 and 50 can be barred from entering Kerala’s Sabarimala temple on the grounds that its presiding deity Lord Ayyappa is in the form of “naishtika brahmacharya” (perpetual celibate), reports Hindustan Times.
A five-member constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra began hearing the case on July 17, making it clear that the ban to the over 800-year old hilltop shrine in Kerala’s Pattanamthitta district would be tested on “constitutional ethos”. It also asked the temple board to establish that the restriction was an “essential and integral” part of religious faith. Hindustan Times reported.
During the hearing of the case, the constitution bench, which also comprises justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, observed that the practice was based on the “patriarchal” belief that a man’s dominant status in the society makes him capable of austerity.
