Indian police taking a activist into custody as they stop a bus of protesters rallying against a Supreme Court verdict revoking a ban on women's entry to Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

NILAKKAL, INDIA : Right-wing Hindu groups attacked women journalists at an Indian hill temple yesterday, trying to prevent women of menstrual age entering for the first time in centuries, despite the presence of hundreds of police.

The Sabarimala temple in Kerala has been the cause of tension since India's top court ruled last month that banning some women from entering infringed on their right to worship.

Hard-line Hindu groups have threatened to commit mass suicide to prevent women from entering in a cultural battle between the Supreme Court, which recently delivered landmark judgments legalising gay sex and adultery, and traditional bodies that still hold sway in a deeply religious country.

The Hindu groups, which include Shiv Sena, a former ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, said the ban on women of menstrual age entering is required to appease the temple's chief deity, Ayyappan, depicted as a yoga-practising god considered eternally celibate by followers.

Kerala's communist government, that runs the state along secular lines, has pledged to uphold the court ruling.

But some women have so far been prevented from proceeding towards the temple site.

A female journalist from CNN News 18 was attacked by protesters, who smashed the windows of the car she was travelling in, in view of the police, footage from the channel showed.

"It was shocking that officers were there doing nothing," reporter Radhika Ramaswamy said in a broadcast.

"Protesters had free rein, attacking our vehicle."

Footageshowed police chasing protesters through dense forest near Nilakkal, the main entry point to the temple. The protesters had been throwing stones, the channel reported.

Ms Saritha Balan, a journalist from online publication The News Minute, was kicked by protesters while accompanying devotees, she told Indian TV.

Camera crews from other channels had their vehicles vandalised.

Earlier, a lone woman travelling to Sabarimala by bus was stopped at the bus stand near the gateway by protesters.

The woman, identified only as Libi by Asianet News, came from the neighbouring district of Alappuzha.

"When democracy and the Supreme Court order are being defied by protesters, I have come with the firm intent of visiting Sabarimala," she said, adding she was ready to face trouble.

"I am not scared. The police are providing full security."

Police have registered cases against more than 50 people, media reports said.

A family of four from Andhra Pradesh state, including at least one woman, were shielded by police carrying sticks after protesters shouting slogans prevented them from reaching the temple.

Police said around 500 police, including 100 women officers, had been deployed at Nilakkal.

"Nobody will be allowed to prevent anybody. We will do everything possible to implement the law of the land," said Inspector General of Police Manoj Abraham.