The hearing in the matter related to the entry of the women in Sabarimala Temple is in full swing before the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. Looking at the mood of the court and the past track record, most probable outcome is that that this ancient ‘patriarchal’ practice of exclusion of women between the age of 10 to 50 years will be wiped from the canvas of the history as petitions against such age-old practices are admitted only after Justices are determined to restore the balance into the society by obliterating such unconstitutional and discriminatory practices which often trembles their soul.
No one can argue the fact this practice which has been practiced since times immemorial discriminates between men and women. The controversy is that before entering Sabarimala Temple a 41-day penance/ tapasya is to be observed and it is believed that only after enduring these harsh conditions for 41 days continuously, one can feel the splendor of god Ayyappan. This ‘tapasya’ which is a pre-requisite for entering Sabarimala temple is done in honor of Lord Ayyappan to show their subscription to his teachings. The tragedy of the narrative is that women due to their menstrual cycle cannot do this penance. Now, the predicament is that the Supreme Court has no means as of today to adjudge whether this exercise actually purifies the ‘subject’ or not. So, obviously, the only way to quash this inhumane practice is to test it on the touchstone of part 3 of the constitution which is widely referred to as heart and soul of the constitution.
The question that now remains is not ‘can’ such practice be quashed but rather ‘should’ such practice be quashed after performing the litmus test on them. And, to the surprise of the most, the answer is a big NO. The logic behind it is that in Sabarimala Temple Lord Ayyappa is in his ‘Naishtika Brahmacharya’ i.e. perpetual celibate form. This form signifies sexual abstinence, sexual purity, and chastity and teaches ultimate control over lascivious and lustful thoughts as a route to unite with God. This is the main reason for not allowing women of a certain age bracket into the temple as it signifies the resilience and resistance of god Ayyappan towards women sexually.
Now, I say that you throw the gates open buy subduing the belief of the people and by eclipsing the core of the message coming from the spiritual teaching, then what would be left in the temple? An idol without spiritual preaching? Followers with no belief as they were robbed of it by the intelligentsia of the country? Opening the doors to all being unmindful of the preaching will rather convert the temple into a picnic spot but of course, more importantly ‘which is open to all.’ There is no point of worshiping a god by a devotee when the devotee herself feels that the rituals and practices that connect the devotee to such god are discriminatory and robs her of her rights.
Yes, religion and beliefs of yesteryears have their faults and are not as sacrosanct as the lex loci, neither spiritually nor morally but still, people follow them and not the constitution. If what is feared of will actually happen then someday all the temples and religions will be declared ‘unconstitutional’ being violative of supreme law because of their inherent flaws. Then maybe temples of Constitution will rise to save the moral collapse of men with the teaching of constitutional compassion, constitutional morality and what not, the duty which religion has dispensed till date. They test religious morality on the touchstone of constitutional morality and grin over the superiority of their ‘product’ which also happens to be their brainchild, their very own constitution. But the reality is that they are not able to appreciate the values and the depth of religious morality. They fail to take into their account that this religion does not discriminate at all and there is Chengannur Mahadeva Kshetram Temple which celebrates the menstruation of women and worships the bleeding goddess. They fail every single time to get the right message that more important than entering the Sabarimala temple is to ‘embrace the idea of controlling the senses.’
They rob religion of its values, principles, and doctrines and fail to consider that once the ancient practice is broken and the women are allowed to set foot in, the temple will lose the sanctity it holds in the eyes of its followers and would turn the temple into an abode with no virtues. What if someday constitution is robbed of its ideas, its soul, its morality, and its compassion? What would be left in it? Will it remain the same omnipotent and righteous law which can be the benchmark to test anything? This is what religion is made today, a hollow tree which is facing criticism from everywhere for not bearing any fruits whereas the truth is that the same intellectual critics are the ones who have robbed it of its xylem and phloem. Constitutional morality can never be accorded a higher status than religious morality and can neither be used as a parameter to judge it.
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