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The Supreme Court allowed the entry of women in the Swami Ayappa Temple at Shabarimala and ever since then a lot of protests have erupted in Kerala against the decision. One of the points that is raised by the devotees is that it would lead to a sort of desecration of the temple because we are breaking the ancient rules.

There is already a question regarding why women are not allowed in Shabarimala but mine is different. I want to know do any scriptures mention specifically that the entry of a woman who is capable of having periods leads to the desecration of a temple? It may not be specific to Shabarimala could be any other temple too but I want to know if any such statements barring the entry of women exist in our scriptures.

Amrit Dhara
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    There are 2 issues here - women into sabarimala, and women who are having periods (4 days) into any temple. Both are not allowed, but for different reasons. Ayyappa is taken naishtika brahmacharya vrat, so he won't look at any mature women (age 10 - 50 approx.). Women during periods are unclean, so they should not enter temple, just as none should not enter temple without bathing. Or without washing feet after nature call. If these acharas are not followed, sannidhyam (sanctity) of temple gets reduced or destroyed. Anticipating this, they do kumbabishekam every 12 years to restore purity. – ram Oct 03 '18 at 17:59
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    women who are not in period can enter most other temples, no restriction on that. the stupideme court says 'women devotees cannot be restricted from worshipping deity' - if they are really devoted to a god/goddess, then by definition, they would happily obey their orders and would not even think of doing anything to displease them. the main order being 'I won't look at women of age 10-50', so why would 'devotees' want to visit there ? – ram Oct 03 '18 at 18:04
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    We're not yogis or not in a mental state where we can practice Yoga for majority of our time. We're bound by our past KARMAS which will not allow us to do it. So Ayyapa worship is Yoga for 42 days by which you purify yourself and get his blessings. Nowdays some group of male do not practice for 42 days, and we've seen its consequence in accidents while going to Sabarimala. If that's for male, i do not know what will happen for female. – Agamas Tantras Oct 04 '18 at 02:26
  • 'temples' and worship in temples are relatively new compared to the age of scripture. your question will only generate a lot of opinions. – Swami Vishwananda Oct 04 '18 at 05:26
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    @SwamiVishwananda, temples are absolutely not new. In Kali Yuga, Bhagavan's chief form is 'Archa' (murthy or idol). The remaining 4 of his 5 forms are - Para (Vaikunta), Vyuha (Vasudeva), Vibhava (Rama/Krishna avatara) & Antaryami. If you say 'Kali Yuga is only recent', then my reply is 'Kali Yuga occurs in every Chatur Yuga'. If you say 'Yugas itself are not mentioned in Shruti', my reply is 'Smritis are as important in interpreting Shruti as Shruti itself is either hard to understand, or easy to misunderstand'. If you say 'I don't accept Smriti', my reply is 'No further discussion'. – ram Oct 04 '18 at 06:09
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    @SwamiVishwananda What false knowledge u are spreading on this site. – Rickross Oct 04 '18 at 08:44
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    I am not getting why are we debating on this topic !! There are few temples where men cant enter but thats fine for us because we have been following the custom and respecting its tradition ! The petition was filed by a muslim who would never in his life visit a temple , cant we all unite and do the same and file a petition for all muslim women to enter masjid as well !! – OM-ॐ Oct 05 '18 at 05:00

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