By Asmita Sarkar:
Among many others, the Karthikeya temple in Pushkar, and Lord Ayyappa Temple, in Sabarimala Kerala, do not allow women to enter at all, while others restrict their entry during the times they are menstruating.
Fighting against this discriminatory practise, Rohini Pawar, a video volunteer for IndiaUnheard, in Veer, Pune, tried to enter the local Shiv temple of Mhaskoba which too bars the entry of women, except during Navratras (the 9 days of the goddess Parvati). On this World Women’s Day as she stood there trying to enter, other women just stood by watching her protest.
Temples such as that of Mhaskoba still carry the prejudicial belief that should women enter, some evil would befall the women or that they would be boycotted by the community. Will we ever see the end of this evil practise?
