Taking note of a social media furore over the alleged entry of woman in the banned age group at Sabarimala along with actor Chrianjeevi a few days ago, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on Wednesday warned legal action against the smear campaign.
According to K. Ananthagopan, TDB president, a verification of the woman’s age proof documents clearly showed that she was born in 1966 and hence had no restrictions in visiting the hill shrine.
“The woman climbed up the hill after a due verification of her Aadhar card and other documents by the police and she is learnt to have visited the temple in the previous years as well,” he told mediapersons.
The controversy
The woman, identified as Madhumati Chukkappally, wife of a Hyderabad-based businessman, accompanied the Mr. Chiranjeevi and his wife Surekha, during a visit to the temple here on February 13.
Sources said the woman and her husband, Suresh Chukkappally, had been a staunch devotees of Lord Ayyappa and had donated the golden flag post of the temple in 2017. The group has now agreed to fund the proposed renovation of a TDB-owned guest house on the hilltop.
A photo of the actor and his team, including the woman, posing for a photo in front of the temple's flag post created a stir in the social media with a section alleging that she had not crossed the menstruating age of 50.
A petition challenging the temple’s custom restricting entry of women in the age group of 10-50 is pending before the Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court..
