Is Sabarimala next Ayodhya? A dialogue with devotees could solve the crisis

Is Sabarimala next Ayodhya? A dialogue with devotees could solve the crisis The Kerala government could learn from what happened at Maharashtra's Shani Shingapur temple in 2016

Priests carry out 'purification' of the Lord Ayyappa Temple after two women in their early 40s entered the shrine and offered prayers, in Sabarimala, Kerala, Wednesday, Jan 2, 2019.

Current Affairs : The nation is worried that Sabarimala may become the next Ayodhya. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has assured people that he won’t allow that to happen. But judging by the events that have unfolded since September, I am not convinced.

I covered a similar protest in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, at Shani Shingnapur village. There was tension there for about 40 days in 2016, but the responses of everyone involved were far removed from what is playing out in Kerala in the name of faith and tradition.

The 400-year-old Shani temple has a sanctum sanctorum comprising a 5.5feet-high black rock installed on an open-air platform. Women were not allowed in, but through dialogue, they gained entry into the sanctum sanctorum in 2016 without any violence.

The power of dialogue If we have to give credit for how that situation turned out, it should go to the trustees for trying hard to exchange ideas with all stakeholders involved, including their then...read more

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