There is no reason in religion. As we say in Malayalam, കഥയിൽ ചോദ്യമില്ല.
For instance, was Ayyappan born of Vishnu and Shiva, or as the story goes - of Mohini, a female incarnation of Vishnu? It is a belief that is the very foundation of the Sabarimala temple.
It is the same for all religions.
Will true followers of Islam find virgins waiting for them in heaven?
Does confessing before a priest wash away sins as Christians believe?
Faith is based on belief, how impossible they might sound.
The foundation of most religions are books written centuries ago, in an age women were indeed treated like chattel (to use Judge Chandrachud’s words in another verdict). These texts that prescribe how to live your life are mostly moral codes, scales tilted heavily in favour of men.
If the court were to apply the same rules of rationality to religions, all of them face a ban.
Every temple has a USP. A legend. A myth. A story.
Dharma Sastha, whose incarnation is Ayyappan thought to be, was happily married. He had not one, but two wives - Poorna and Pushkala.
Even Ayyappan in some stories is married to Prabha and has a son named Sathyakan.
The Lord we worship in Sabarimala is a brahmachari. He has a lover in Leela, who is waiting by his side for the day when no newcomer comes to see him. That is when he will marry her, he has told Leela. So he doesn’t even set his eyes on women. (You can read the story here)
As much as it is a story of Ayyappan’s brahmacharya it is also a story of platonic love, love without expectations, love without desire. A story of waiting and longing. A story of loneliness. A story of pain. A story of sacrifice...
Devotees who trek to Sabarimala are Ayyappans themselves. They have no sex for 40 days, they don’t shave, they don’t wear footwear, they don’t eat meat, they don’t drink alcohol, in short they live the life of a sanyasi.
Menstruation is not part of the story. It sneaked in somehow.
The court must be told, women in Kerala don’t go to temples when they menstruate. They don’t even light the lamp at home during their periods. What does the court plan to do about that? Ayyappan had nothing to do with any of this.
Now that women have been allowed entry into Sabarimala, will they still not go?
Of course they will. If not today, tomorrow. The same women who are pledging they will stop any women from going to the temple will at some point give up the fight and join the trek.
Will the activists who fought for women’s entry go? Some will, to prove a point. Most won’t, because they never believed in Ayyappan anyway.
What the court has done is kill the story. Yes, in the next hundred years or so, the story will adapt to accommodate women devotees. But it won’t be as romantic a story as that of Ayyappan and Leela. The Supreme Court has killed the romance of Sabarimala.
*******************************************************************************
PS: Sabarimala Ayyappan fell prey to a larger political game at play. When the Narendra Modi govt was pushing a ban on triple talaq, people asked questions about gender inequality in Hinduism. Sabarimala too was raked up. The RSS and the BJP advocated women’s entry, welcomed Supreme Court order and now, after sensing the mood on the ground, are protesting the very decision they supported.
For instance, was Ayyappan born of Vishnu and Shiva, or as the story goes - of Mohini, a female incarnation of Vishnu? It is a belief that is the very foundation of the Sabarimala temple.
It is the same for all religions.
Will true followers of Islam find virgins waiting for them in heaven?
Does confessing before a priest wash away sins as Christians believe?
Faith is based on belief, how impossible they might sound.
The foundation of most religions are books written centuries ago, in an age women were indeed treated like chattel (to use Judge Chandrachud’s words in another verdict). These texts that prescribe how to live your life are mostly moral codes, scales tilted heavily in favour of men.
If the court were to apply the same rules of rationality to religions, all of them face a ban.
Every temple has a USP. A legend. A myth. A story.
Dharma Sastha, whose incarnation is Ayyappan thought to be, was happily married. He had not one, but two wives - Poorna and Pushkala.
Even Ayyappan in some stories is married to Prabha and has a son named Sathyakan.
The Lord we worship in Sabarimala is a brahmachari. He has a lover in Leela, who is waiting by his side for the day when no newcomer comes to see him. That is when he will marry her, he has told Leela. So he doesn’t even set his eyes on women. (You can read the story here)
As much as it is a story of Ayyappan’s brahmacharya it is also a story of platonic love, love without expectations, love without desire. A story of waiting and longing. A story of loneliness. A story of pain. A story of sacrifice...
Devotees who trek to Sabarimala are Ayyappans themselves. They have no sex for 40 days, they don’t shave, they don’t wear footwear, they don’t eat meat, they don’t drink alcohol, in short they live the life of a sanyasi.
Menstruation is not part of the story. It sneaked in somehow.
The court must be told, women in Kerala don’t go to temples when they menstruate. They don’t even light the lamp at home during their periods. What does the court plan to do about that? Ayyappan had nothing to do with any of this.
Now that women have been allowed entry into Sabarimala, will they still not go?
Of course they will. If not today, tomorrow. The same women who are pledging they will stop any women from going to the temple will at some point give up the fight and join the trek.
Will the activists who fought for women’s entry go? Some will, to prove a point. Most won’t, because they never believed in Ayyappan anyway.
What the court has done is kill the story. Yes, in the next hundred years or so, the story will adapt to accommodate women devotees. But it won’t be as romantic a story as that of Ayyappan and Leela. The Supreme Court has killed the romance of Sabarimala.
*******************************************************************************
PS: Sabarimala Ayyappan fell prey to a larger political game at play. When the Narendra Modi govt was pushing a ban on triple talaq, people asked questions about gender inequality in Hinduism. Sabarimala too was raked up. The RSS and the BJP advocated women’s entry, welcomed Supreme Court order and now, after sensing the mood on the ground, are protesting the very decision they supported.
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