Sabarimala
Tension prevailed at the Lord Ayyappa temple here on Tuesday as nearly 200 frenzied devotees tried to prevent a woman pilgrim, whom they suspected to be of menstrual age, from entering, prompting the police to register cases against them.

Though there is hardly any rush of pilgrims during the annual “Sree Chitira Atta Thirunal”, the hill temple witnessed an unprecedented flow of devotees this time when it was opened for the two-day special puja on Monday.
Clapping and chanting ‘Ayyappa saranam’, a huge crowd of devotees surrounded Lalitha Ravi of Thrissur, suspecting her to be of menstrual age, but the police intervened and escorted her out. She showed her Aadhaar card to them to prove that she did not belong to the “traditionally barred” age group of 10-50 years. The police later escorted her to the shrine to offer prayers along with her other women relatives.

The police at Sannidhanam said a case has been registered against 200 “identifiable” persons in connection with the incident, based on her complaint.
Despite prohibitory orders, devotees and right-wing activists gathered in huge numbers at the shrine complex.