Modi visit to protest-hit Kerala 'postponed'

“The PM’s visit to Pathanmathitta on January 6 was postponed due to some other engagements. Though it has nothing to do with the current situation, we don’t want to aggravate the situation further,” Hindustan Times quoted a senior BJP functionary as saying.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the two women in their mid 40s entered the shrine a day ago with police protection.

Video footage of the incident, where two women could be seen entering the temple, has gone viral on social media.

The women reportedly reached the temple around 3:45 am.

After the women's entry,  the temple was closed for "purification rituals", a move that was slammed by various outfits saying it was practising untouchability.

The Travancore Devasom Board, which runs the hilltop shrine has sought an explanation from the temple's supreme priest Rajeevaru Kandarau, for performing the purification ritual. CM Vijayan had also criticised the priest’s move.

“He performed the rites without the knowledge of the board. It was against the spiritof the Supreme Court verdict,” said board president A Padmakumar.

On Sept 28, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had lifted the ban on women's entry into the Sabarimala temple declaring the relevant rules as unconstitutional.

Following the top court's verdict, the shrine opened on Oct 18 for the first time allowing menstruating women, belonging to the age group of 10 to 50, to enter the temple.

However, several men and women had protested outside the temple, and tried to prevent the entry of women in the shrine.

For centuries, menstruating women had been banned from entering the temple dedicated to Lord Ayyappa.