Bangalore: Close on the heels of the controversy surrounding Kannada filmstar Jayamala's claim about having entered the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala and even touching the feet of the deity, another Kannada actress Girija Lokesh has gone public to reveal her own visit to the temple.
And this was in the same year as Jayamala visited Sabarimala in 1987. Girija Lokesh says her 12-year-old daughter, son and some relatives also accompanied her. But Girija didn't enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
She also doubted Jayamala's claim about being there and touching the feet of Lord Ayappa.
According to Girija, it isn't easy going so close to the deity because of the distance between the devotees and the deity.
It is also not possible as there would be priests and others around, she said.
However, the actress questioned the very logic behind the bar on women from entering the temple as Sabarimala herself is female. "The earth is equally for both men and women and to say that women can't worship Lord Ayappa is wrong," she said. "It's mean and narrow-minded."
Meanwhile, the swamiji of Pejawar Math, Vishvesha Tirtha, on Monday declined to comment on the tradition followed by the Sabarimala Temple.
He noted that there was no blanket ban on women visiting that temple. Only girls and women in the age 10 to 50 are barred, he said.
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