Shani Shingnapur row: Male devotees storm into temple’s inner sanctum to offer prayers on Gudi Padwa; cops watch on

Only days after the Bombay High Court ruling that announced that both, men and women have equal rights to enter into places of worship, the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra has allowed men into the inner sanctum of the temple. Despite the double the barricades put up by the trustees around the sanctum, men forced their way in to offer prayers on the occasion of Gudi Padwa.

According to TV reports, temple trustees chose to remain silent on the issue. On 2 April, women were blocked, beaten and pushed out of the Shani Shingnapur temple despite a Bombay High Court order to give equal rights to men and women to enter the temple.

Shortly after the news broke out, Trupti Desai, leader of Bhumata Brigade — an activist group that has led the protest for entry in the Shani Shingnapur temple, will be heading to the temple. Desai told Firstpost: “Now that male devotees barged into the temple despite the trust authorities claiming the opposite, we will be arriving at the temple today to offer our prayers as well. The cops should now allow us to enter the temple.”

According to CNN-IBN, temple authorities will soon be announcing the decision in favour of the women allowing them to enter the inner sanctum of the temple.

The Shani Shingnapur temple has barred women for centuries from the inner sanctum that is dedicated to Shani, or Saturn. It is one of a handful of Hindu temples in the country that does not allow women entry.

The Bombay High Court had observed that women should have equal access to places of worship. “There is no law, which prevents women for having equal access from entering a temple. If men are allowed then women should also be allowed,” the court had said.