Women head to Trimbakeshwar temple to break ban, detained

In a replay of their high-voltage march to Shani Shingnapur temple, women activists on Monday headed to the famous Trimbakeshwar temple in Nashik to break the ban on the entry of women devotees into its sanctum sanctorum but were stopped and detained by police at a village about 80 km away from the shrine.

The activists under the banner of Bhumata Brigade who numbered between 150 and 175 and led by its chief Trupti Desai were stopped at Nandurshingote village by rural police from proceeding to Trimbak town in Maharashtra’s Nashik district where pilgrims had gathered in large numbers on the occasion of Maha Shivratri festival.

They were detained under various sections of the Maharashtra Police Act, a senior police officer said.

Located 30 km from Nashik town and 160 km from Pune, Trimbak town has been turned into a fortress in view of the country-wide terror alert and also because of the huge flow of devotees.

Desai had left Pune earlier in the day trooping nearly 150-175 activists in vehicles as part of her plan to push for entry of women into the “garbhagriha” (sanctum sanctorum) of the ancient temple which houses one of the 12 Jyotirlingas.

Before setting out, she made a plea to Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis to make sure that their members are not detained on the way, as the authorities did during the earlier campaign. “Since the Chief Minister had supported us on the Shani Shinganapur issue, we hope that we are not stopped today and will be allowed to enter the ‘garbhagriha’,” Desai, who chose the occasion of Maha Shivratri to resume their campaign said.