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Updated: Jan 03, 2019 18:34 IST

Erstwhile royal family of Pandalam has a strong connection with the Sabarimala temple of Kerala. An offshoot of Pandya dynasty of Kerala, the Pandalam family claims that Lord Ayyappa was one of their own. Pandalam today is a small town in the Panthanamthitta district of Kerala where the Sabarimala temple is located.

With the Sabarimala temple row hitting national headlines again after two women entered the shrine early morning Wednesday, PGS Varma, a member of royal Pandalam family, has blamed the Kerala government of Pinarayi Vijayan for the controversy.

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On the issue of women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple, Varma said, “The Kerala government is taking measures everyday to send someone there to disturb its rituals. It is festival time when one to two lakh people used to visit the temple every day but due to government action, it has reduced to 10,000-15,000.”

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Varma’s statement has come in the wake of reports that groups of pilgrims have cancelled their planned visit to the Sabarimala temple following entry of two women in the shrine. Reports said that the pilgrims cancelled their trips to the Sabarimala temple saying that the sanctity of Lord Ayyappa shrine has been breached.

The Kerala government has said that it was its constitutional obligation to facilitate entry of women in the Sabarimala shrine following the Supreme Court judgment in this regard.

On September 28 last year, the Supreme Court had declared a Kerala government rule that barred entry of women aged 10-50 in the Sabarimala shrine as unconstitutional. The ruling threw open the gates of the Sabarimala temple to women of all age groups.

The devotees of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity of the Sabarimala shrine, believe that he lives there in eternal celibate state and has taken a vow to shun any contact with women. Several groups have been protesting the Supreme Court judgment allowing entry of women of all age groups in the temple.

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