Women visiting the famed Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala in Kerala(break) will now have to carry an identity card to proof that they are in permissible age group
as decreed by Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) that manages the shrine. Girls as young as 10-year are barred from entering the temple Women in the age group 10-50 are banned in the temple.
Well, because they menstruate! And Lord Ayyappa is considered to be a ‘naishtika brahmachari’ (perennial celibate). That has always been the rule though.
The new rule of age-proof was taken after a young girl from Tamil Nadu visiting the temple turned out to be 11-year old. But her father insisted on taking her along for the anyway.
A petition challenging this patriarchal custom is pending before the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court.
