400 year ban lifted, women worship at Shani temple in Maharashtra

 In a big victory to the campaign for gender equality, the famed Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra today lifted the centuries-old ban on entry of women at the sanctum sanctorum, yielding to a high voltage crusade by activists and court directions.

Soon after the temple trust announced the decision to facilitate unrestricted entry to all devotees to the core area of the shrine in Western Maharashtra, some women devotees entered the sacred spot and offered worship.

Hours after the decision was announced, Bhumata Brigade leader Trupti Desai, who had led a sustained campaign over the issue, reached the Lord Saturn temple in Ahmednagar district and offered prayers.

Before Desai reached the spot, two women activists, who earlier broke away from Bhumata Brigade, entered the sanctum sanctorum and offered prayers, pouring oil on the deity in a culmination of the three month-long agitation against gender bias at religious places.

Significantly, removal of the gender barrier came on the auspicious occasion of “Gudi Padwa”, marking New Year by people across Maharashtra.

Welcoming the decision, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “discrimination on the basis of caste and gender should be eliminated from the minds of the people keeping with the modern times.”

Earlier in the day, around 250 men jumped barricades and forced their entry into the platform, saying it had been a long tradition for the devotees to offer worship at the shrine on the Gudi Padwa day.

Sayaram Bankar, a trustee of the temple, said a meeting of the trustees decided to facilitate unrestricted entry to all devotees, including men and women, in keeping with the Bombay High Court directive.

The High Court, had on April 1, held that it is the women’s fundamental right to go into places of worship and the government is duty-bound to protect it.

The debate over the issue escalated after a woman last year tried to enter and offer prayers at the Shani Shingnapur temple, in ‘breach’ of the age-old practice of prohibiting entry of women.

The agitation for women’s entry gained momentum over the last few months, even as the temple authorities had later barred men also from entering the sanctum sanctorum.

Terming the decision as a wise step, Desai told PTI “Der se aye lekin durusta aye” (It was late but in the end correct decision),” she said reacting to the development that signalled a victory for her prolonged fight against gender discrimination at places of worship.

She hoped that trustees at Trimbakeshwar and Mahalaxmi temples in Nashik and Kolhapur respectively, too, would take similar decision to end injustice against women devotees.

 “This change (allowing women into the core area) was extremely important and is a really satisfying development.  This sends a strong signal that women, like men, deserve all rightful benefits,” she said.

The Chief Minister said discrimination was never part of Indian culture or Sanatan Dharma but was introduced later.  “Though law will do away with such discrimination, mentality of society needs to be changed if we really have to progress.

“If we have to progress in this 21^st century then it is important that we remove this concept of discrimination of caste and gender from the minds of the people completely.”

Sharing her husband’s view, Amruta said, “this is a symbol of change but the actual change will take place only when people will start changing their mindset towards women.”

After the agitation for women’s entry gained momentum, the temple authorities had barred men also from entering the sanctum sanctorum. Today local men had brought sacred water of Godavari and Mulay rivers from Pravara Sangam, about 40km from Shani Shingnapur, and offered prayers.

Puspak Kewadkar, one of the two women activists who stepped on the sacred platform for the first time, later said “I am very happy. We poured oil and offered a garland to the deity in a traditional worship of Lord Shani.”

She said there was no attempt to prevent them from entering the inner area either from police or villagers.

Kewadkar and another activist Priyanka Jagtap belonged to a breakaway faction of the Bhumata Brigade and had left the parent body alleging Desai was orchestrating her campaign to hog limelight for herself.

However, there was some drama before they gained entry into the shrine. Some women gathered at the gate of the temple to prevent the entry of the activists, but police prevented any untoward incident by deploying around 400 police personnel, said Sanjay Jadhav, Additional SP.

He said the women retreated from the spot after the police apprised them about the High Court directive.

In a related development, eunuchs and transgenders have also demanded right to offer prayers at the temple.

“We will also go to Shani Shinganapur as it is our right to have darshan (of the deity there),” said Kajol Guru, President of the ‘Maharashtra Tritiypanthi Sanghatna’, an outfit which fights for the rights of transgenders.

Meanwhile, the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti condemned the decision of the temple trustees to allow women at the “chauthara” (sacred platform), saying it was “a hasty and unfortunate one”.

Parag Gokhale, a functionary of the Samiti, in a statement here, blamed the State Government and administration for “failure’ to protect age-old traditions of Hindu religion.

“The trustees succumbed to the pressure brought on by the Bhumata Brigade whose agitation was publicity driven,” he alleged.