Is Sabarimala an Occult Temple With Energies that Harm Women? Myth Debunked!

What does the Tantric (Occult) Process of Prana-Prathishtha of the Idol in the temple entail? The answer in this post.

Post the upliftment of the ban on women of menstruating age from entering the Sabarimala temple, a section of India’s citizenry has come up with an entirely new explanation to justify the ban.

According to this explanation, which made its debut only after the Supreme Court had pronounced its verdict, the reason why women were not allowed into the Sabarimala temple historically, has nothing to do with the fact that Hindu society considers menstruating women as impure and polluting; rather the real reason for the ban was because Sabarimala is an occult (tantric) temple, where certain “occult energies” are present which are harmful to pregnant and menstruating women.

Therefore it was keeping the ladies own safety and well-being in view, says this explanation, that this custom of banning them from the shrine, had been enforced by the Sabarimala temple authorities.

Now this “occult explanation” for banning women is not only blatantly false, but it also does an immense disservice to the cause of women’s upliftment, which many Hindu saints and social reformers have fought for over the last century and a half. This false occult justification, tragically diverts the attention of the public away from the main issue of menstrual untouchability – a widespread social practice, which debars Hindu women from participating in pujas or from visiting temples in the days of their periods, for fear that they will pollute the purity of the deity and make God angry.

By leaving this gigantic issue of menstrual untouchability un-addressed, millions of Hindu women, 90% of whom self-impose this restriction upon themselves, are left to grapple with a damaged sense of self-worth, a feeling of inferiority and helplessness, which ultimately retards their spiritual progression towards the goal of God-realization.

So in this article I shall list out 2 key points to counter and dispel this occult hypothesis – this circulating falsehood that Sabarimala is a tantric temple with “occult energies” that are harmful to menstruating and pregnant women. And once we have debunked this myth, we will then be able to focus our energies on tackling the real problem – the social practice of menstrual untouchability.

1. The Sabarimala Temple’s Managing Board Has Never Classified It As An Occult Shrine: We being our first counter-point by noting that nowhere in its deposition before the Supreme Court did the Travancore Devaswom Board (which manages the Sabarimala temple), ever offer the explanation that Sabarimala is an occult temple where women-harming energies abound. Neither did the Devaswom Board cite any verses from the Tantra or the Agama scriptures to justify this occult hypothesis.

   If Sabarimala really was an occult temple, surely the Travancore Devaswom Board with its accompanying body of Sabarimala temple priests, all of whom are thoroughly well-versed in the history of the shrine – surely they would have offered this explanation before the Supreme Court! But they did no such thing. They did not even mention the word ‘occult’ or ‘tantra’ before the Court.

   Therefore we can safely conclude that Sabarimala is not an occult temple and the occult hypothesis is entirely fake; concocted by a section of the Indian citizenry who wanted to continue to justify the ban on women under the misguided belief that by doing so they were somehow saving Hinduism.

   Now if “women-harming occult energies” was not the reason cited by the Sabarimala temple authorities, what then was the true reason offered by them before the Supreme Court to justify the ban? The temple authorities as a matter of fact cited two key justifications – (i) The first was the historical belief that Lord Ayyappa’s vow of celibacy (Brahmacharya) would get shaken if women of menstruating age entered the temple, and (ii) the second was the belief prevalent in Hindu society that menstruating women are polluting in the days of their periods.

   For these 2 reasons alone the Sabarimala temple authorities had prohibited women of menstruating age from entering the shrine. Now it is important to stress that even these 2 reasons cited by the temple authorities are not sanctioned by the Hindu scriptures because they violate very definition of God that has been outlined in the Vedas. For more watch the video: Can Lord Ayyappa’s Brahmacharya Really Shake if Women Enter the Sabarimala Temple?

2. “Women-Harming Occult Energies” DO NOT Exist: Now the second counter point for us to consider is that not only is Sabarimala not an occult temple, but even the claim that “occult energies” harm pregnant and menstruating women, is utterly false. It has absolutely no spiritual or scriptural basis. As a matter of fact such energies do not exist at all! There are 2 key facts which outright debunk this false claim:

   1. Sri Chottanikkara Devi Temple Where Exorcism Takes Place: The first is that there is actually a very famous and ancient temple within the state of Kerala itself, in which the occult practice of exorcism takes place regularly. Women of all ages are freely allowed into this temple. There is no barrier to entry placed upon pregnant ladies, or upon women in the menstruating age group of 10 to 50 years, as has been placed at the Sabarimala shrine. Neither has any hypothesis regarding the ‘existence of women-harming occult energies’ ever been put forth by the priests of this most ancient and prominent temple in Kerala.

      This temple is the Sri Chottanikkara Devi Temple in Cochin. The Goddess in this temple is worshipped in three different forms: as Mother Saraswati in the morning, as Ma Lakshmi in the afternoon and as Maha Kali in the evening. Interestingly Lord Ayyappa is also worshipped at this temple.

      

      At 8.45 pm at night in this temple, the occult ritual of exorcism is conducted by invoking the powers of the Goddess Maha Kali. Devotees suffering from mental illnesses caused due to the possession by evil spirits come to this temple to gain relief. Women of all age groups are freely allowed to witness the exorcism ritual, during which sacred verses are chanted, and twelve pots of guruthi (a mixture of lime and turmeric that turns the colour of blood) are offered to the Goddess. Then the mentally afflicted are made to drive a nail into the trunk of an ancient Pala tree with their foreheads. Each nail driven into the tree trunk represents a demon that has been cast away.

      Now if women of all ages are freely allowed to enter the Sri Chottanikkara Devi Temple and witness the nightly exorcism ritual, where the idol of Lord Ayyappa is also present, then why not at Sabarimala, especially when no such exorcism or other tantric rituals actually take place within the Sabarimala temple’s premises? Clearly the claim of the existence of women harming occult energies is entirely illogical and baseless! Furthermore if such women-harming occult energies truly existed, wouldn’t the good priests at Chottanikkara have warned the ladies about them? The fact that the priests have never issued any such warning is another indicator that no such energies actually exist!

   2. Some of the World’s Greatest Occultists Have Been Women! Another truth which directly debunks the existence of such “women-harming occult energies” is that the fact that the foremost practitioners of occult have actually been women! Madame Blavatsky was the most famous of such occultist women, who founded the Theosophical Society. She wrote several books on the knowledge she gleamed into the subtle realms of existence based on her occult practices. Another great occultist, who was also a God-realized sage, was Mother Mirra – the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo. Her teacher in occult too was an English woman by the name Madame Theon. In fact the field of occultism in the West especially, is dominated by women. There have been, and still are countless mediums and psychics who routinely establish contact with departed spirits.

      So if occult energies have never negatively harmed any of these women occultists, why then should they harm the ladies visiting Sabarimala? In fact if such women-harming occult energies actually existed wouldn’t Madame Blavatsky or Mother Mirra and countless other women occultists have warned about them? They issued no such warnings because such energies do not exist at all!

So it is quite clear that the claim of “women-harming occult energies” is frivolous and without merit. It is just another false assertion, a myth that has been propagated by some, in order to make people fearful, so that they stop questioning and instead are coerced in continuing to support the Sabarimala ban.

Understanding the Occult (Tantras) and the Practice of Prana-Prathishtha

Now there has been a second assertion made regarding Sabarimala – that it is an occult temple, because its idol has been installed via the occult process of Prana-Prathishtha. Because of this mode of installation various “women-harming energies” are somehow produced.

So in the next post, which will be released shortly, we will tackle this false assertion which only serves to encourage superstition. We will develop within us, a proper understanding of the Occult i.e. the field of the Tantras, with their left-handed (black magic) and their right-handed (Divine) sadhanas. After having gained the right knowledge about the Tantras, we will then delve into the mechanics of the Divine process of Prana-Prathishtha, in which the Prana or the life-force is established within the idol.

This Prana-Prathishtha process, although a part of the Occult (Tantras) belongs to the sub-category of right-handed or, Divine practices. It has nothing to do with the black magic side of the Tantras. It is an altogether pure and Divine process, in which the Consciousness and the Prana (life-force) associated with a particular deity are made to be concentrated in the idol in the temple.

Each and every Hindu temple, without any exceptions, has its idol “enlivened” by the consciousness of the respective deity through this process of Prana-Prathishtha. What’s more, this process is no longer shrouded in secrecy, rather the entire process of Prana-Prathishtha, along with the mantras that need to be chanted, has been wonderfully detailed by the God-realized sage and Avatar, Yugrishi Shriram Sharma Acharya in his book, the Karma-Kanda Bhaskar.

As a matter of fact, Yugrishi dedicated his life to reviving and detailing various Hindu rituals, Yagnas and worships, with the sole aim of removing various kinds of superstitions associated with these rituals, that have been historically propagated by priests and other spiritual leaders, who have used these superstitions to maintain their control over the ordinary people.

By freeing up this knowledge and bringing it to the door-steps of all, Yugrishi wrested the power from the priestly class and handed it back to the people. Any person today, regardless of their caste, race or gender can perform this process of Prana-Prathishtha of the idol, by following the procedure outlined by Yugrishi. He himself conducted the Prana-Prathishtha in many Gayatri temples & Shaktipeeths that he built all across India, and the process is still done by his devotees at the Gayatri Pariwar, at numerous temples around the world. You can watch one such Prana-Prathishtha process here. (While watching notice the number of women of all age-groups present during this process).

Therefore in conclusion, what is most important for us to understand about the Prana-Prathishtha, is that being a Divine process, the Absolute protection and boundless love of God is always present, both during and after this process; and so there can never be any harm that can come to women (menstruating, pregnant or otherwise) by this process. If any harm was ever produced it would make it an anti-Divine, evil ritual.

In fact there is a stage in the process of Prana-Prathishtha, where the idol is required to be bathed and worshiped, and this task is specifically allocated to young girls as their minds are utterly pure and untainted by sexual desires. This itself indicates that the process of Prana-Prathishtha is so pure, that even young girls can perform it without any adverse effects.

Therefore any statements to the contrary, which imply that the process of Prana-Prathishtha is something to be scared of, or that it hurts women by producing bad energies, all these assertions are simply blatant fear-mongering and propagation of mindless superstitions designed to keep ordinary people cowered in fear. Now we shall explore more on this topic of Tantras & Prana-Prathishtha in the next post.

Be bold and fear not. It is fear that is the great cause of misery in this world. It is fear that is the greatest of all superstitions. It is fear that is the cause of our woes, and it is fearlessness alone that brings heaven even in a moment.

If there is one word that you find coming out like a bomb from the Upanishads, bursting like a bombshell upon masses of ignorance, it is the (Sanskrit) word “Abhih” meaning fearlessness. Be not afraid of anything. For the moment you fear you are nobody.

Stand then and be free. What can frighten you, what can hold you down? Only ignorance and delusion of your true nature! Nothing else can bind you. You are the One Being in the universe. If the suns come down, the moons crumble into dust, systems after systems are hurled into annihilation, what is that to you? Stand as a rock; you are a soul infinite and immortal, you are indestructible. Say to yourself: I have no fear because I am Existence Absolute, Bliss Absolute, Knowledge Absolute – I am He.
Swami Vivekananda