How much is too much : Exploring the Sabarimala Case

Author- Sakshi Singh,

a student at Maharashtra National Law University Aurangabad

Not long ago, the Supreme Court passed its verdict on the entry of women of the age 10-50 in
the Sabarimala Temple. The case Indian Young Lawyers’ Association vs The State of Kerala
or more commonly known as the Sabarimala case has garnered widespread attention by being
a judgement which promotes feminism and scrapes discriminatory practices based on
biological features of women. In 1991, the Kerala High Court heard a challenge to this
custom. In S. Mahendran v. The Secretary, Travancore, the Kerala High Court ruled that the
exclusion was lawful and acceptable because it was a long-standing tradition that did not
infringe upon the rights to equality and freedom of worship of women devotees. At first
glance, it appears that women must be freed from the male-dominated religious constraints
placed upon them, yet beneath these limits are the traditions and practises of Sabarimala's
followers, who have adhered to these practises for aeons.
Earlier in 1991, when S. Mahendran and others filed the petition, they raised two major
questions in front of the Kerala High Court,