Author: Anuradha Nagaraj
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: December 21, 2003
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=37701
This story involves a BJP minister
and a temple, but this is an unusual one. On his birthday, newly elected
Education Minister of Rajasthan, Ghanshyam Tiwari, created history. Ignoring
protests and lecturing priests, he broke an ancient tradition and took
his wife and daughter inside the sanctum-sanctorum of the Ghushmeshwar
Shiva temple in Siwad yesterday.
In the process, Tiwari opened the
temple doors to all women, many of whom have expressed resentment at being
kept out of the shrine in the temple's visitor book.
''I told them that if my wife couldn't
go in then neither would I,'' says Tiwari, who says he wasn't aware of
the rule when he arrived at the temple in Sawai Madhopur's Siwad area along
with wife, son and daughter.
As the priests objected, Tiwari
and his son stuck to their ground. They had almost turned to go back when
the temple trustees came to their rescue and the situation was diffused.
The complete Tiwari family then entered the sanctorum and offered prayers.
Soon after that, the temple trust
passed a resolution allowing the entry of women into the sanctum-sanctorum.
''Actually, every time a woman asked
us why she was not being allowed inside we never had a reply,'' says Prem
Prakash Sharma, general secretary of the Ghushmeshwar Shiva temple trust,
who firmly backs Tiwari's move. ''We were ashamed but were not able to
break tradition. Now the doors have been opened and we will gladly welcome
women in.''
Ironically, adds Sharma, ''The biggest
disciple in the history of this temple (a centuries-old Shiva shrine) was
a woman. Ghushma, after whom the temple is named, was a Brahmin lady who
performed puja here. It is only in the recent past that the rulers of this
area banned the entry of women. We don't know exactly why or when.''
On Friday, Tiwari arrived with his
family to participate in the closing ceremony of the 11th 'Kundiya Mahayagya'.
As the minister was entering the sanctum- sanctorum, the priests prevented
his wife and daughter from entering, stating that women were not allowed
inside. ''We told them it was ridiculous,'' says Tiwari.
Incidentally, former minister and
Independent MLA from Siwad 'Thakurain' Narendra Kanwar, herself a woman,
is not happy at the break from tradition.
''This whole thing was never about
banning women from the sanctorum but just ensuring that they did not make
the place impure,'' according to her. ''There is no other way to stop illiterate
village women from entering the temple while they are menstruating. And
if they enter, they vitiate the temple's atmosphere. There are always bad
repercussions when a temple is made impure.''
Kanwar has never entered the temple-''Only
my son performs puja there' '-and has no problems with that. ''We pray
at home. I set an example for the village women to follow and to ensure
that the purity and sanctity of the temple is maintained.''
But Sharma, who believes in women
empowerment, brushes aside such objections. He is also confident there
won't be any uproar as feared. ''Barring a few priests who have been at
loggerheads with the trust since it was created 10 years ago, no one else
has protested against this...In the village, women are happy and we are
going to try and ensure that their entry is not stopped.''
