While the debate over ban on entry of women in places of worship rages on, spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has emerged as a mediator in the standoff over the Shani Shingnapur Shrine in Maharashtra.
Sri Sri met trustees of the Shani Shingnapur shrine on Friday and proposed solutions to end the ongoing tussle between women activists and locals over women's entry in the inner sanctum of the shrine. The founder of Art of Living, an educational and humanitarian movement, had recently said that religious leaders should intervene in such issues to resolve them.
Women outfits have been spearheading campaign against centuries-old ban on female devotees entering the sanctum sanctorum of Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra. Over 400 women had launched a protest against the tradition of not allowing women at the inner platform (chauthara) of the temple where only men are permitted to make offerings to the deity (Shani).
They have submitted a memorandum to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking his support to end gender bias and allow women's entry at the temple and all other sacred places in the state.
Backing the campaign by women activists to break gender bias and enter the sacred sanctum of a Shani temple, the spiritual guru had said the movement is justified as there is no scriptural sanction for discriminating against female devotees.
"Women are justified (in seeking to enter the sacred sanctum of the temple) as there was no sanction to gender discrimination in our scriptures. If men can enter, women too can. Different temples follow different rules, but if men can enter a place, (of worship) women can also do so. There is no scriptural sanction for any gender discrimination," he said.
"Many people are not even aware of such a thing so we need to educate our people that women and men have equal rights. A few years back women were not allowed to chant 'Gayatri mantra' but today women are learning Vedas (scriptures) and becoming priests in Pune," Sri Sri said.
"Awareness on gender equality has to be created, scriptures have to be understood properly. It is the work of religious and spiritual leaders to make people understand. Though they may be following some traditions, it has no scriptural injunction," he said.
"In some ways this is good that people are taking a stand, in another way we need to bridge the gap. It should not become just an ego issue and people hold on to their stands."
"This can be resolved without much friction if the religious people take a pro-active role... I am with them (the women). They want to claim their right to worship. The other side is, they fear if they do something which has not been done for centuries, may be some bad thing will happen. This sort of psychological fear or concern needs to be addressed. Shani bhagwan won't be angry at you for allowing women. Shani bhagwan will be very happy for women coming inside and offering prayers," said the popular religious guru, who has been chosen for Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award.
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