In what appears to be a response to the Kerala government’s proposed Women’s Wall event to be held across Kerala on January 1, the Sabarimala Karma Samithi’s Ayyappa Jyoti event will be held on Wednesday between 6 and 6.30pm. The event is being held to protest the Supreme Court's verdict allowing women's entry into Sabarimala temple.
Sabarimala Karma Samithi leaders, including Samithi president KP Sasikala and general secretary SJR Kumar, have said that the wall of lights will consist of over 8 lakh devotees, and will span from Hosangadi to Kanyakumari Thriveni covering a distance of 795 km. The New Indian Express reports that the event will be held on National Highways between Hosangadi and Angamaly, and on MC road from Angamaly to Muvattupuzha. A ‘jyoti’ or lamp will be lit every 2.5 kilometres of the demonstration, and members who are part of the demonstration will chant Ayyappa slogans for 30 minutes.
As reported by the Daily Pioneer, Swamy Chidanandapuri, head of the Advaitha Ashram and the chief patron of the Sabarimala Karma Samithi, said, “There is an attempt to destroy the plurality and diversity of the temples in Kerala and the Ayyappa Jyothi is an attempt to expose this mission as well as an offering to the God with a prayer to inculcate good thoughts in the mind of the powers that be.”
On December 17, The New Indian Express had reported that the BJP will lend its support to the Ayyappa Jyoti by organising awareness programs during the event. Programs will be held at 250 centres all over Kerala.
Meanwhile, the CPI (M)-led government plans to hold its controversial Women’s Wall event on January 1, which will see a 600-km-long human chain of women from Kasargode to Thiruvananthapuram. The government’s proposed event is an attempt to raise awareness about its stand on the Sabarimala issue, as well as to counter Sangh Parivar protests against women’s entry into the shrine.