Neeta Kelkar, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) women’s wing and her 15 supporters tried to enter
the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on Wednesday.
A group of 40 women activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), led by MLA Ram Kadam, entered the sanctum sanctorum of the Mahalaxmi Temple in Kolhapur on Thursday, breaking a 2,000-year-old tradition in which women have been banned from entering the temple.
Kadam had raised the issue in the state legislative assembly on Tuesday. Neeta Kelkar, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) women’s wing and her 15 supporters tried to enter
the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on Wednesday.
The temple has two sanctums divided by a silver arch. The police intercepted Kelkar and her supporters just outside the silver arch, preventing them from entering the inner sanctum, where the idol of the deity is placed.
On Thursday, Kadam led a group of 40 women activists in the temple, where the activists offered prayers to the goddess and later celebrated their victory outside the temple. Kadam later told reporters that banning women from entering the temple was an unfortunate tradition. “Now, women can enter the temple freely,” he added.
District guardian minister Harshvardhan Patil has instructed the district collector, Laxmikant Deshmukh, to convene a meeting on Friday with the temple management and priests to resolve the issue. One of the priests, Kedar Munishwar, told DNA that a case on women’s entry in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple is pending with the Bombay high court.
“As per the tradition, women are not allowed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. But we are ready to abide by the court’s verdict,” he said.
Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (Mans) chief, Narendra Dabholkar, welcomed the move. In 2000, Mans had launched a massive campaign protesting against the ban on women’s entry in Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar.
“Our agitation in Shani Shingnapur was opposed by the Shiv Sena and the BJP. After the agitation we moved the court for lifting the ban on women’s entry in Shani Shingnapur. In this regard, we had also referred to the tradition followed in Mahalaxmi Temple in Kolhapur,” he said.
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