Last week’s Supreme Court’s judgement on women having the right to enter the Sabarimala Temple has further empowered gender and social justice.
While the SC judgment on permitting women of all ages into the Sabarimala Temple of Kerala has been hailed as historic, in reality, women at the individual and collective levels have fought over decades for their rights to enter temples that have restricted their entry and fostered prejudice…
For the record, legal intervention ruled against the ‘only men permitted’ tradition of Shani Shingnapur in Ahmednagar District and Haji Ali in Mumbai.
Yet, set in our own backyard, is the curious case of Kanifnath Temple on the outskirts of Pune known for its challenging entrance to its sanctum sanctorum…
This, my readers is the interesting story of the Kanifnath Temple set atop a mountain, 25kms from Pune. Back in the 90s a group of women in Mumbai campaigned for entry into the Kanifnath Temple and when they failed, they registered a complaint with the National Women’s Commission.
It is important here to understand this temples unique practice and design…
It is dedicated to a well revered Saint, Kanifnath, who was one of the nine teachers in the Navnath Sampradaya, a tradition which believes that Dattatreya (Lord Datta) is an incarnation of the Holy trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
Over the years it gained popularity as a tourist spot, thanks to hundreds of IT youngsters blogging about it…
The entry to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple is a door, the size of our `now- extinct to technology’ telephone directory all of 9″ x 9″…
Entry is restricted solely to men. In what can be termed as a bizarre custom, men have to take off their shirts and bare-chested, slide into the sanctum sanctorum by lying in a sleeping position, flat on their stomach. Then they have to push themselves through the 9 inch x 9 inch door to enter it.
After paying obeisance, they have to again get in a lying position and push themselves backward (legs first) to come out of it. Women have to watch this from a distance and it is impossible to see what the sanctum sanctorum looks like.
However, there is place for 10 men to stand, once inside. Interestingly, it also has a magnetic field which is proved by the defection of a magnetic needle, if carried in.
Writes Manish Raje in his blog, http://manishraje.blogspot.com, `the bizarre thing about the cave is, you need to crawl inside the cave through a 9-inch by 9-inch square! Initially we were apprehensive on getting stuck. It is just hard to digest that you can crawl yourself through such a small frame. Then we saw a middle-aged man do it skillfully without any problem. Ah, forgot to tell one more thing. Before you crawl in, you have to take off your shirt/t-shirt. Bare it all on top, pants must stay :). Women are not allowed to get into the cave. Some temple’s in India have that restriction. Here it is not possible due to the aforementioned clause. So people crawl in with their heads going in first. Once you are in, there is room for about 10 people to stand comfortably.
The cave does not have any other opening apart from the 9” hole. So people with claustrophobia should refrain from going inside. There is a Samadhi like structure inside and a lantern burning.
Coming out of the cave is a difficult task too. The legs must come out first…That’s the established protocol. This way you never end up turning your legs towards to holy Samadhi structure within the cave, either while going in or while coming out. Having done this once, we felt a sense of achievement. It’s a great feeling that you go inside and come out from there.’’
The Mumbai Police appointed a senior woman police officer for investigation on the direction of the National Women’s Commission.
The trustees of the temple simply explained the rules and regulations for entering the sanctum sanctorum. Would women dare to abide by them?
That in short was the conclusion of the investigations and all has been quiet since then!
Tempted to go there?
Here’s how you can : Take the Pune-Hadapsar-Saswad road. From Hadapsar GadiTal, travel another 10kms. On Saswad road, you will notice some snack outlets. Turn right, Kanifnath temple is visible right on the top of the mountain.
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That's Vinita Deshmukh, Senior journalist and RTI activist who believes in journalism that reflects the views and needs of the common man.
Get Real And Stay Relevant says Vinita,
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