TDB passes resolution opposing Supreme Court verdict allowing women’s entry into Sabarimala temple

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on Monday (March 2, 2026) passed a landmark resolution opposing the 2018 Supreme Court verdict permitting women of menstruating age to worship at the Sabarimala Temple.

The TDB resolution has immense political ramifications, given the long-standing demand of the electorally significant Hindu social organisations, chiefly the Nair Service Society (NSS), and belatedly the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), that the government uphold Sabarimala custom and tradition, including the bar on women of childbearing age entering the temple.

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TDB president K. Jayakumar told a press conference that the resolution would serve as the basis for the affidavit the Board would file with the Supreme Court when the justices meet to review the 2019 order on April 14.

Mr. Jayakumar said the TDB’s position was not anything new. “The Board was constituted (in 1949 under the Covenant for the Formation of the United States of Travancore and Cochin) to protect temple traditions (under the provisions of the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act XV of 1950).”

Mr. Jayakumar said that various earlier Board leaderships had opposed women’s entry in principle, but never adopted it as a resolution. “It’s the TDB’s default legal position. Protecting temple traditions is core to the TDB’s constitution”, he said.

Mr. Jayakumar said he could not comment on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s position, given that such matters were the Cabinet’s preserve. “When the Supreme Court reviews the subject, the TDB would submit its official position”, he said.

Minutes later, Devaswom Board president V.N. Vasavan told reporters that the Cabinet would revisit the subject. Last week, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State Secretary M.V. Govindan hinted that the LDF government would protect the “belief of devotees”, signalling a marked shift from its 2019 position, which upheld the Supreme Court verdict.

Mr. Govindan had also drawn a line between left ideology and governance, ostensibly on the issue of women’s entry, by stating that the administration need not always tow the party line on executive matters in a parliamentary democracy.

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Notably, the NSS general secretary, Sukumaran Nair, had criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for failing to pass a central law that would future-proof Sabarimala’s religious practices and customs against legal challenges.

He had accused the BJP of reneging on its promise to the NSS. He slammed Congress for “mouthing” the cause of Ayyappa devotees for political purposes without pursuing any meaningful measures to protect their interests. He had also lauded the government for withdrawing cases slapped against peaceful protestors during the 2019 Save Sabarimala Campaign, which rocked the first Pinarayi Vijayan government.