Thiruvananthapuram | Sabarimala Karma Samithi, a right-wing umbrella outfit, on Wednesday announced that it would hold an event in Pandalam in the Pathanamthitta district to counter the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, which is being organised by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).
The Samithi is an umbrella organisation of various Hindu groups that spearheaded the agitation against the entry of women of menstruating age into the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa Temple seven years ago.
According to a poster shared on the Facebook page of Hindu Aikyavedi, a Sangh outfit, the Samithi stated it would organise the event as a reply to the state government.
It said thousands of devotees would take part in the event, titled "Sabarimala Samrakshana Sangamam", which is to be held in Pandalam on 22 September.
The right-wing event will be held two days after the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, organised by the Travancore Devaswom Board as part of its 75th anniversary on 20 September at Pamba. The TDB event is backed by the Left government in Kerala.
In 2018, the Supreme Court lifted the ban on women of menstruating age entering the Sabarimala temple, ruling the restriction "unconstitutional".
The verdict triggered widespread protests and remains under review by a larger bench.
The CPI(M) and the LDF government came under severe attack from a section of Ayyappa devotees, the Congress-led UDF, and the Sangh Parivar for facilitating the entry of two women of menstruating age into the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
It was the Sabarimala Karma Samithi that led the protests against the women's entry to Sabarimala.
