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Women and the Sabarimala temple

Women and the Sabarimala temple

How Indian women fought for the right to be allowed into a Hindu holy site

Witness History · BBC World Service

December 17, 20198m 56s

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Show Notes

Priests reacted with horror when a South Indian actress, Jayamala, admitted she had inadvertently touched a statue of a god at the Sabarimala temple in Kerala - a Hindu holy site. The priests had purified the temple and said that women of childbearing age were banned from setting foot inside it. But a young lawyer, Bhakti Pasrija, decided to take on the religious authorities in the courts. She has been telling Iknoor Kaur what happened next.

PHOTO: Hindu devotees wait in queues inside the premises of the Sabarimala temple. Credit: REUTERS/Sivaram V