NEW DELHI, INDIA, July 31, 2018 (Deccan Chronicle): The Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Tuesday made it clear that the Sabarimala temple in Kerala cannot exclude a section of women in the age group of 10 to 50 from entering the temple by imposing discriminatory conditions. The CJI heading a five-judge Constitution Bench told counsel V.K. Biju appearing on behalf of devotees that the temple can have rituals but by prescribing an impossible condition of 41-day ritual, a section of women are being discriminated and this amounts to exclusion. Justice Chandrachud endorsed CJI’s observation and said, ”If Constitution is supreme then there cannot be any exclusion of a section of women as it is violative of Article 14. Ours is a progressive Constitution and if necessary we have to deal with such issues head-on. If it is an abhorrent practice, why should we not interfere with it?”
Biju argued that the policy not to allow women between the age of 10 and 50 is reflected in the rituals and practices of the temple. If these things were changed, that would amount to changing the whole nature of the temple itself, which will be violative of Article 25. Rejecting the charge that women are not allowed entry, he said that from 2010-2017, about 1.5 million women in the age group of 10 to 50 visited Sabarimala. It is a fact that women from all fields and from all over the country and from the outside the country visit Sabarimala every year. It is a fact that there is only age regulation and there are regulations for men’s entry too in temples like Attukal Bhagavathi temple. He argued that since the Deity is in the form of a Naishthik Brahmachari, it is believed that young women should not offer worship in the temple so that even the slightest deviation from celibacy and austerity observed by the Deity is not caused by the presence of such women. Biju urged the court to appoint an appropriate commission to analyze the truth of the custom and practice.
INDIA, July 19, 2018 (Reported by M. Bernard and A. Clemencon, translated from French): The AVP Ayurvedic Hospital in Tamil Nadu maintains a vast conservatory garden where nearly 900 plants grow, the use of which is inseparable from traditional Indian medicine. Michel Bernard, a journalist, and Anne-Sophie Clemencon, photographer, made a trip to India from February 15 to April 15, 2018. From their meetings, they reported a logbook on various topics related to ecology. Towards the end of the treatment, we obtained permission from doctors to visit the conservatory garden and the factory that manufactures their ayurvedic products. The ensemble is located in Kanjikode, near Palakkad, Kerala. Two people were waiting for us: the head of the garden and an old man over 80, Professor Vasudevan Nair, taxonomist. Nair has been working for 65 years and knows the 900 plants of Kerala.
At the entrance of the garden, the list of all the plants that are present and their therapeutic indication covers a whole wall. In time, the ancients developed medicines that depend entirely on nature. In Ayurvedic medicine, 90% of preparations are extracted from plants. In addition, there are some minerals and some animal products, especially cow’s milk. ”Before this medicine, plants have always been used to eat. Our body is accustomed to these plants by generations and generations of humans fed on herbs.” Vasudevan Nair supports his demonstration by saying that ”the largest animals are herbivores: elephants, rhinos, hippos” and that, according to him, one should be vegetarian to be in good health.
Vasudevan Nair explains that ”all plants are medicinal, but we do not yet know all the contributions they can have”. The garden is used to grow plants for study, to feed the plant, and also to help reproduce plants that have been known for a long time, but are endangered. Finally, gardeners make exchanges with other countries with a similar climate, mainly Brazil which, with the Amazon, has the largest reserve of plants in the world: more than 4,000 species and many different medicines. Brazil is for the Indians of the conservatory garden of Kanjikode a well of knowledge. They are studying whether it is possible to adapt these plants here, in Kerala, to benefit from their specificities.
Whatever defect I have in my sight, in my heart or mind, may God amend! May he, the Protector of the world, bless us!
— Yajur Veda 36.2
