In a historic decision that broke a 400-year-old tradition, the Shri Shani Shingnapur Devasthan Trust (SSSDT) on Friday decided to open up the chauthara (platform) of the temple to all, including women. The decision was taken after 200 Kawadis, groups of devotees who bring gangajal (water of river Ganga) on foot, from Shingnapur trampled barricades, climbed the chauthara and conducted abhishek (offering prayers). Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that discrimination on the basis of caste and gender should be eliminated from the minds of the people in keeping with the modern times.
Kawadis entered the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and offered prayers to the deity on the occasion of Gudi Padwa, even as the temple officials tried to prevent them.
The Trust had also made arrangements to collect the water in a vessel on the ground and then pump it over the deity. However, Kawadis rejected the proposal and forced their entry into the sanctum sanctorum.
As the trust members objected to their entry, resulting in tension, the police rushed to the spot. A decision was taken to allow entry to all in a joint meeting of the trustees, villagers, Kawadi group and some government and police officers, CEO Gorakhshnath Darandale told The Asian Age.
CEO Darandale said that the trust then decided to open up the chauthara to all, including women for darshan (veneration).
In the evening, Pushpak Kewadkar, who is estranged from Trupti Desai’s Bhumata Brigade, became the first woman to venerate the chauthara.
Temple trust spokesman Haridas Gaywale said, “At the meeting, the Trust decided there won’t be any discrimination and today all parts of Shani temple have been opened for all.”
The Bombay high court had on April 1 held that it is the fundamental right of women to go into places of worship and the government is duty-bound to protect it. The debate over the issue escalated last year after a woman tried to enter and offer prayers at the Shani Shingnapur temple, in ‘breach’ of the age-old practice of prohibiting entry of women. The agitation for women’s entry gained momentum over the last few months. Temple authorities had recently barred men also from entering the sanctum sanctorum.
Local men had brought sacred water of the Godavari and Mulay rivers from the Pravara Sangam, about 40 km from Shani Shingnapur and offered prayers. It has been a tradition for male devotees to climb up the platform of the temple and offer the water after performing a pooja on Gudi Padwa every year. The villagers said that it’s a local custom and a matter of faith as they forcefully reached the prohibited area of the temple.
Welcoming the decision, Bhumata Brigade leader Trupti Desai said, “We are happy that the temple trustees have taken a wise decision eventually. If a single man enters the sanctum other than the pujari, the court orders have to be followed, everyone has to follow the order. The day has come today (when) we will enter the ‘shani’ platform. This is our victory.”
“If we have to progress in the 21st century, then it is important that we do away with this concept of discrimination of caste and gender from the minds of the people completely,” Maharashtra CM Mr Fadnavis said, reacting to the development.
