Sabarimala Temple in Kerala opens today amid tight security

TIL Desk/National/Thiruvananthapuram/ Amid heightened security, the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala would open for the pilgrim season this evening, with the CPI(M)-led LDF government making all preparations to make it a hassle-free pilgrimage.

The portals of the hill shrine, located in a reserve forest in the Western Ghats in Pathanamthitta district of the state, would be opened for the two-month-long Mandalam Makaravilakku season this evening around 5 pm.

The state and temple precincts had witnessed frenzied protests by right outfits and BJP workers last year after the LDF government had decided to implement the Supreme court’s verdict of September 28, 2018, allowing women of all age groups to offer prayers at the shrine.

For centuries women in the menstruating age group of 10-50 years were barred from entering the temple.