Glass ceiling of patriarchy shattered at Shani Shingnapur

Ahmednagar Pushpak Kewadekar 32 and Priyanka Jagtap 22 from Pune etched their names in the annals of history on the auspicious day of Gudi Padwa as they became the first two women to enter the sanctum sanctorum of Shani Shingnapur temple last evening and offer prayers for the first time in 400 years after the temple trust debunked the ageold ritual of prohibiting women from entering the shrineTrupti Desai in blue and her husband offer prayers at the Shani temple last evening PicShrikant VangariThough the ban was lifted at 1230 pm it took 430 hours for the first female devotees to overcome the apprehension and chaos outside and enter the templeNarrating her experience Priyanka said ldquoI was preparing for my MPSC exams when Pushpak tai called and told me to accompany her to Shani Shingnapur We reached the temple at 445 pm We observed that none of the women were ready to enter the temple despite the temple trust lifting the ban in the afternoon itself So we decided to do the needful However the gates to the shrine were locked and the onduty guard replied rudely saying that he doesnrsquot have the keys when we asked him to open the gates Realising that he was not going to open the gates we jumped them and entered the sanctum sanctorum to offer prayers This is an epic victory for us women folkrdquoPriyanka holds a degree in hotel management and is married to a Punebased businessman She was also a part Bhumata BrigadeEnters DesaiAround 625 pm gates to the sanctum sanctorum were shut for the evening payers that was performed by six priestsThe gates were reopened at 655 pm following which Trupti Desai foundermember of Bhumata Brigade which started the fight for equal rights for women to pray at the temple entered the sanctum sanctorum and offered prayers with her husbandDuring her 15minute stay she offered a litre of oil and milk and flowersHowever this did not go down well with the other devotees waiting in the queue who claimed it was unfair that Desai was given additional time to pray Terming it partiality several devotees tried to push their way forward to the sanctum sanctorum by jumping the queueOfficial speakCommenting on the trustrsquos decision to allow women to offer prayers at the shrine vicepresident Nanashaheb Banker said ldquoAfter holding a meeting with the locals the gram panchayat the police and administrative officers we reached a conclusion that the time had come to discontinue such rituals The meeting was held after a group of unruly men breached the security to offer prayers and created nuisance around the shrine Respecting the courtrsquos orders the ban on women entering the shrine was lifted at 1230 pmrdquoEarlier in the day around 250 men from Shingnapur village entered the sanctum sanctorum and offered prayers to the deity despite temple authorities trying to stop them The men breached the security and had darshan as part of Gudi Padwa tradition police inspector Prashant Mandale from Shani Shingnapur police station saidFollowing the BombayHCrsquos order the temple trust had prohibited men from entering the sanctum sanctorum The HC on April 1 held that it is the womenrsquos fundamental right to visit places of worship and the government is dutybound to protect it The debate over the issue escalated after a woman tried to enter and offer prayers at the Shani Shingnapur temple last year in breach of the ageold practice of prohibiting entry of womenmdash Inputs from Agencies