Trimbakeshwar does U-turn: Men allowed in sanctum

NASHIK: The Trimbakeshwar temple trust will from Monday go back to its tradition of only allowing men in the inner sanctum.

After a Bombay high court ruling that women should also be allowed equal access to temples, the trust had, last week, decided to also keep men out of the inner sanctum. But on Sunday, the trust took a U-turn, deciding to allow men along with priests to enter the sanctum for a special puja from 6am to 7am.

Asked whether woman devotees would be allowed during the special puja hours, senior trustee Kailash Ghule said, "The court will issue guidelines in this regard. We are not against the entry of women devotees, but it's difficult for them to follow the traditional guidelines of wearing one silk cloth, known as 'Sovale'. This dress code has been decided upon and approved of in the constitution of the temple. We will seek the court's help in this regard."

The trust also decided to seek the court's help to frame entry guidelines for the Lord Shiva shrine. The trustees held a meeting with the trust's administrative officers and the chairperson on Sunday to discuss the proposals put forth by local residents. The residents were pressurising the temple trust to move the apex court challenging the HC ruling.

Chief executive officer of the trust Sameer Vaidya issued a correspondence that states the trustees would not challenge the HC order or the state government's decision, but would ask the "appropriate" court to frame special guidelines. "The infrastructure, architecture, geography and crowd management issues related to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple will be described to the court. ," Vaidya said.

Ghule said a three-member committee had been constituted to file a suit in the "appropriate" court. The committee is represented by woman trustee Lalita Shinde, advocate Shrikant Gaidhani and senior most trustee Yadavrao Tungar.