Women's right to puja in Shaneeswar temple.

27 JAN 2015

   The United States of America’s Nasa scientists found that one of their satellites was slowing down in its orbit around the earth at the same position in each rotation. They could not find the reason for the slow down and the speed automatically picked up once the satellite was out of that location. This was a curious behavior and so they investigated and found the cause. The cause was the sudden increase in ultraviolet radiation as the satellite passed through that location.

The above is documented and put at the temple itself for all to know.

But what is not so well known is that Saneeswara Bhagwan represents ultra-violet!

The age-old tradition of attributing the ultra-violet to saneeswaran found scientific evidence only now!

The point I am making is tradition need not be unscientific! There are innumerable other cases of tradition matching the scientific discoveries as and when they are discovered by Science! Non-science need not be nonsense per se!! Particularly in India where the traditions are based on 5000 years of experimentation or more.

So, in the interest of women, I suggest the following: Let our scientists find out scientifically whether ultraviolet radiation affects females more badly than the males. If so let us continue with the tradition of not allowing the ladies near the sanctum sanctorum of Saneeswara temple- in the interest of women! Before we do this, simply to say that we are in the 21st century and so what has not yet been proved by science is unscientific is pure ignorance if not arrogance as well.

At the same time not permitting the ladies to pray at the Saneeswaran temple without any reason except that they are ladies is equally, if not more, ridiculous and arrogant. Nobody can deny their right to such a thing whether or not the constitution of India says. But just because we have the right can we indulge in something that harms us and the society at large? Anyone is free to exercise his right to think independently, decide and act but the consequences of his/her action are inescapable. Where the consequences may be bad, it is prudent not to exercise the right though it exists. So why not clear the doubt after a well – monitored scientific study?

If without doing this, people protest, it may be not for the reason published namely to fight for women rights but to become popular. And then to enter politics!

One more thing we have to bear in mind when we judge such protests is: Is this going to benefit the people of India or does it merely satisfy the passion of a negligible fraction of this population? Even if it does benefit, what is the benefit after all?

It is painful to see the torch –bearers of tradition of this great country, even though they are a faction, are fighting against tradition. In fact I feel only they should because they are the torch bearers of tradition but only after going deep and finding out the facts scientifically instead of superstitiously and blindly assuming that non-science is non-sense, or assuming every tradition has a scientific base – though, of late, tradition after tradition is being proved scientifically.

Until such time that the scientific study is completed, women who want to have darshan of Saneeswar at the cost of their health, should be permitted to have darshan and those ladies who do not want to risk their health and may be their fetus’s health should also have the freedom not to. That is it should be made optional and not compulsory in any one way.