Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 30: Despite the Supreme Court's verdict allowing entry of women of all age group in Sabarimala temple, only 'women activists' will reach the hillock shrine, Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar said on Sunday. He said 'real women devotees' of Lord Ayyappa would not visit the Sabarimala temple.

“Only some women activists are expected to trek the holy hill in the name of the verdict,” Padmakumar told media after meeting Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He also said the TDB would seek 100 acres of forest land from the Centre to provide more amenities for devotees as part of implementing the top court order.

Padmakumar said the TDB, which manages the Sabarimala temple, will also consider filing a review petition, citing the difficulties and challenges faced by it in implementing the order in the present context. He said the top court didn't take unique geographical aspects and specific circumstances at the hill temple into consideration while giving its judgement.

“During the last annual pilgrim season, devotees had to stand in queue for over 17 continuous hours on a particular day due to the unprecedented rush,” the TDB chief told PTI. “Is it possible for women to trek kilometres through the forest path and stand amongst the packed crowd?” he said. He said the real devotees who respect the traditions and rituals of Sabarimala and know the circumstances there were not likely to visit the shrine.

The apex court had on September 28 lifted the ban on the entry of women aged between 10-50 years to the forest shrine, holding that the centuries-old Hindu religious practise was illegal and unconstitutional.

Detailing its challenges, from crowd management to security, he said no more constructions were possible in the premises of the shrine which is located in the ecologically fragile Western Ghats region. Steps will be taken to demarcate some of the existing toilets and lodging facilities for women devotees, the TDP president said.

The Board has also plans to set up a new ‘viripandal’ (dormitory), which can accommodate at least 10,000 people, considering the influx of women devotees. “The work will begin by January and will be completed by the next pilgrimage season in 2019,” he said, adding a meeting will be held here on October 3 to discuss further steps to be taken by the Board in view of the court verdict.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 30, 2018 08:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).