Women's entry in Shani Shingnapur temple will lead to assaults: Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati

Delhi: Three days after woman entering into the inner sanctum of Shani Shinganapur temple in Maharashtra the leading religious figure in the country has warned that this development after centuries will lead to increase in number of assaults.

On Monday afternoon Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati Maharaj said that instead of destroying the drugs which caused men to perpetrate physical crimes, women had incurred the wrath of God by entering the temple. The religious leader added that steps like this would increase because women started praying to Lord Shani.

Following months of activism and litigation, women started offering prayers at the Shani Shinganapur temple in Ahmednagar on Friday afternoon. There are still quite a few temples which restrict the entry of women such as the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. The Shani temple victory has reinforced the movement for these temples to break with the past.