A group of women, who had arrived from Tamil Nadu in Pamba on Sunday morning to climb atop the hill shrine and offer prayers to Lord Ayappa, were forced to return after protests against their move intensified in the afternoon. While 11 women, all members of the Chennai-based ‘Manithi’ outfit, had arrived at the spot, only six of them were supposed to visit the shrine. However, the women could not go ahead as devotees began chanting hymns in protest.
The six women had carried the traditional irumudikettu which is mandatory to climb the ‘pathinettam padi’ (holy steps leading to sanctum sanctorum). The group, led by the outfit’s coordinator Selvi, had also insisted on police protection to offer prayers at the shrine. As the news spread, a large number of devotees thronged Pamba, about five kilometres away from Sannidhanam .