As the gates of the Sabarimala temple in Kerala were flung open, a crowd of male devotees surged towards the temple. Police arrested 11 protesters when they tried to block the path of some women and girls at the temple, which is one of the world’s largest Hindu pilgrimage centres. India’s Supreme Court lifted the ban last month, holding that equality is supreme irrespective of age and gender. Some religious figures consider menstruating women to be impure. The operators of a temple in the north-western state of Rajasthan believe the Hindu god Kartikeya curses women who enter the temple, instead of blessing them.

Source: Irish Independent October 17, 2018 13:52 UTC