Minister for Power MM Mani has slammed the Pandalam royal family after their statement that the Sabarimala temple should be closed if women in the menstruating age group enter it. The minister said that the Pandalam royal family appears to have forgotten that the times of monarchy are over. “It is not their rule now, it is the rule of democracy,” he said, on the issue of entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala temple, following the Supreme Court verdict allowing it.

When two women were on the brink of climbing the final 18 steps to the shrine on Friday, the Tantri had reportedly said that the temple would be shut before they entered. Reacting to this, minister Mani said, “The Tantris of Sabarimala are saying that they would shut the temple. But the Tantri is wrong, do you know why? Because the Tantri is a paid employee,” he said.

The Pandalam Palace Trust had written a letter to the executive and administrative officers of Sabarimala Temple, asking that the Tantri shut down the temple in case any of the rituals were affected. This would mean they wanted the Tantri to shut down the temple in case women between the ages of 10 and 50 were going to enter the temple. The Pandalam family administrative committee president Sasikumara Varma said that the government is trying to somehow make women enter Sabarimala and thereby taint the temple. The minister's reaction came as a response for this.

A day ago, minister G Sudhakaran, too, had spoken against the Tantri’s stand. “The Tantri says that the temple would be shut, and that he would give the key and go away. What you hear is the sound of bells ringing during the fall of Kerala’s feudal system.”

He added that those who want to enter the temple would enter, and the others needn’t. “That is their choice. There is no Hindu, Christian or Muslim there. It is a place where everyone is welcome. That is the greatness of Sabarimala,” Sudhakaran said.