SC says allow women in Sabarimala, as temple argues Ayyappa is celibate

There is no such thing as Hindu male or Hindu female. `A Hindu is a Hindu,' the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday. Therefore, the judges said, denying women the right to worship in a Hindu temple amounted to violation of their constitutional right to equality. The court said that the argument, based on rituals and traditions, is unlikely to hold in the context of what the Constitution guaranteed. The powerful Sabarimala temple trust and the Kerala government argued before the court that the traditional ban on women entering the Sabarimala temple should be preserved. They contended that the ruling deity of Sabarimala, Lord Ayyappa, is a Brahmachari or celibate. Hence women of child-bearing age are banned from the temple. Besides, the women's presence impedes upon the Lord's purity.