Sabarimala Temple: 12 year old girl refused entry, family asked to go without her

New Delhi : Sabarimala Temple is now open for the Lord Ayyappa's darshan and the gates of the main temple will remain open for the time duration of two months amid strict rule that women aged 10 to 50 are not allowed to visit the main area.

According to the latest report, a 12-year-old girl was stopped by the officials on the temple gate. She had arrived from Puducherry for the darshan of Lord Ayyappa temple along with her father.

The age of the girl, with “irrumudikettu” (offerings to Lord Ayyappa) had been shown as 10 in the virtual queue booking.

The women cops checked her on the entry gate and as mentioned in her Aadhar card she was found to be of 12 years. She was then denied entry from Pamba to the shrine complex, police said.

The girl's father and rest of the family proceeded for the darshan.

Supporting the shrine’s tradition, a nine-year-old Keralite girl, who came to the temple complex from Karnataka on Monday, had a placard around her neck inscribed with the words “Ready to wait. Will visit the shrine after attaining 50 years.”

The Lord Ayyappa temple had opened on November 16 evening for the two months long Mandala-Makaravillakku pilgrimage season.