As I have argued many times on this, I support the Supreme Court on allowing women. Sastha [the deity of Sabarimala] is our family deity and in the Sasthas we worship in Tamil Nadu there are no restrictions for women. There is nothing in the legend of Sastha that is against the worship of women — as evidenced by temples everywhere else.
The primary issue comes one of practical utility. Sabarimala is in the centre of a forest and historically not safe. Thus, women didn’t go out of safety. However, those arguments don’t hold true anymore as the endless stream of buses and vans and the reckless management by the temple trust has pushed out most wild animals from the area.
I don’t accept the notion that all traditions are right and traditions cannot be changed. Just because it is a tradition for women in fertile age to be not allowed in the temple for the last few centuries, doesn’t mean that tradition is correct.
For my fellow Hindu conservatives, I would point to the story of Lord Krishna lifting the Govardhana Giri.
Why did He do it? Because he asked the gopis to break the traditional worship methods and thereby incurring the wrath of gods.
Dharma gets corrupted all the time. Traditions get twisted. Superstitions become allowed.
Thus, we have to be constantly looking out for these and periodically clean up the Dharma.
Like how we outlawed Sati and child marriage. Like how we fought untouchability.
I find it immoral for sexism to be allowed in places of worship. I find it unacceptable that women are barred from many parts of spirituality.
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥४-७॥
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥४-८॥
Whenever there is decay of righteousness, O Bharata,
And there is exaltation of unrighteousness, then I Myself come forth ;
For the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers,
For the sake of firmly establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age.
The court is doing this thing, because we the Hindu conservatives have lagged behind in our reforms. Our recent ancestors including Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Mahatma Gandhi, Rajagopalachari to Kanchi paramacharya have all worked to reform many aspects of Hinduism. In our generation there are hardly any such glowing reformers.
We are from the Vedantic/Upanishadic tradition of questioning and leading a path of knowledge. We cannot become like rigid stones and people of blind faith.
Oh by the way, the Supreme Court had also made similiar judments for other religions. Haji Ali Trust concedes in Supreme Court: Women can now enter the inner sanctum.
Religious traditions should all work within the framework of the Constitution. From banning triple talaqs to legalising homosexuality the court is doing what the religious reformers failed to do.
The message is clear for us (the theists). Either we bring our relgions back to righteousness or face the full mighteousness of the law.