Women are now allowed to enter Shani Shingnapur Temple in Maharashtra! This new breakthrough advancement feels like a post-dated check. In our race for women contending for the post of president and women actually being president, we are here fighting for worshiping rights. Sometimes, it does amaze me how we think we are in the mainstream race, we are just there, so near, but something like this comes up and I see we are yet so far.
We are grateful to Trupti Desai for encashing this right, be it post dated but 400 years? In 21St century, activists like Bhoomata Brigade, still have to raise their voice against the ill-treatment of the phallocentric rights simply assumed by the men. Wasting their precious time in fights for a “permission” to enter the temple.
May I ask the “owners” of this temple (meaningly the owners of that particular God) why we can’t enter? As per my knowledge, the Pandits or the holy men are there to guide the people out of their misery and assist in taking care of the beliefs of the people, which are directly related to the Temple. Or was I wrong to assume that? If that is the case I would like to appeal to the good sense of the ‘owners’ to enlighten the brains of ‘silly women’ who are ‘breaching’ the sanctity of the Temple by trying to offer their prayers to Lord Shani.
Since, the holy men are only facilitating what is given as facts in the holy books and scriptures and it is not written anywhere that the God is only for men then who are these people not only trying but actually accomplishing the goal of keeping the God for men only. Just because you can, doesn’t mean that you should. Can I (a girl) not appeal to my spiritual father or worship the very one who made me just like he made you?
But this still is one way of men exerting their power in a field where everything is supposed to be equal. Hence, we come to the bigger question why does a man ‘need’ to be in power, ‘need’ to see people or the weak have to go by their whim, need to rule and make unjust rules in any field possible, at any level possible.
My question to my ‘self-appointed’ rulers is that are you really that weak inside that you need a great show of your pretentious power outside to appeal to your great self? You will say no, just because you want to see people suffering because of your no?
My humble request to you would be that just to appease your appetite for more power on the outside, don’t lose our respect from the inside.
