India's Supreme Court will set law on women entering places of worship after it was asked to review a 2018 decision to lift a ban on women entering a Hindu temple in the southern state of Kerala.

The court said Thursday that it will appoint a seven-judge bench to look into the case.

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the court was deferring review of its decision on women entering the Sabarimala temple. Instead, it is choosing to focus on larger questions about women and religion in India, including topics such as Muslim and Parsi women entering religious practices, as well as genital mutilation.

Violent history

Until last year, the Sabarimala temple in Kerala had forbidden women of child-bearing age — between 10 and 50 years old — from entering. The measure was intended to protect the celibacy of the temple's deity, the Hindu god Ayyappa.

Traditionally, Hinduism also views menstruating women as unclean and forbids them from participating in religious ceremonies.

In September 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that the Sabarimala ban did not qualify as essential religious practice and that it violated women's right to freedom of religion.

Violent protests erupted following the decision. Hundreds of demonstrators blocked around a dozen women from entering the shrine. Street battles with the police broke out and protesters assaulted women trying to enter. Only two of the women, escorted by police, managed to enter the temple.

Gradual change

Several groups have since petitioned the court to review the decision. They argue that the temple is a matter of faith and religious belief and that constitutional morality cannot be applied in these circumstances.

Read more: India's 'witches' victims of superstition and poverty

Currently, it is still legal for women to enter the temple. Justice Gogoi said the topic is part of a larger debate in Indian society. The deeply conservative country has slowly expanded women's rights in recent years.

Women entering temple sparks deadly violence in India Sneaking in before dawn For centuries, women of child bearing age were kept out of temples of Hindu deity Ayyappa, the celibate god of growth. The religious taboo was inscribed in law in 1972. After a bitter dispute, the ban was overturned in late 2018. Traditionalists then pledged to keep enforcing the ban. But these two women in their 40s still managed to sneak past them and enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

Women entering temple sparks deadly violence in India Celebration and outrage As the news of the intrusion broke, many women gathered to celebrate on the streets across the Indian state, which is ruled by a far-left government. Hindu traditionalist also took to the streets in protest. The police in the city of Kochi protected the celebration as the conservative protesters, many of them supporters of the BJP party, tried to disrupt the festivities.

Women entering temple sparks deadly violence in India Priests 'purify' the shrine The Sabarimala temple was briefly closed while priests conducted 'purification' rituals to neutralize the unwanted visit by the two women of menstruating age. Worshippers flocked in soon afterwards.

Women entering temple sparks deadly violence in India Riots turn deadly Hindu devotees clashed with police in various cities in Kerala, with the nationalist BJP party decrying the women's entry. The BJP, which holds power on the federal level, accused the far-left government of the state of Kerala of a "conspiracy" to "destroy the Hindu temples." One BJP supporter died after reportedly being hit by a stone from a local Communist party office.

Women entering temple sparks deadly violence in India Woman's Wall Just before the latest escalation of violence, women in Kerala formed a 620 kilometer (385 mile) human chain and recited a pledge to aid gender equality in India. Author: Darko Janjevic



sri, kp/aw (AP, dpa, Reuters)

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