Activist Trupti Desai who led Shani Shingnapur stir hails SC Sabarimala judgement

Mumbai: Activist Trupti Desai, who led an agitation earlier to allow women to enter the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra, Friday hailed the Supreme Court's order on Kerala's Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in its 4:1 verdict, Friday said banning entry of women to Kerala's Sabarimala temple is gender discrimination and the practice violates rights of Hindu women. Desai told media that the SC order was a victory for women's constitutional rights and a setback for the patriarchal mentality and high-handedness of the temple trustees which had refused entry to women there. Desai said she planned to visit the Kerala temple soon. Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple, dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, is the most famous and prominent among all the Sastha temples in Kerala. It is situated on a hilltop (about 3000 feet above sea level) named Sabarimala in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district. Desai's Bhumata  Ranragini Brigade had led an agitation to allow entry of women into Shani Shingnapur Temple in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. The Bombay High Court, in its order in April 2016, had allowed entry to women into the temple dedicated to Shani.