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Tag: Shani Shingnapur

Tradition Breaker Desai Enters Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai Also

[Mumbai]Tradition Breaker Desai Enters Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai Also
Rights activist Trupti Desai today entered Mumbai’s Haji Ali Dargah to offer prayers amid tight security, saying her struggle was for gender equality.
She said.”At the Dargah, I prayed that women be allowed to enter the inner sanctum, as was the case till 2011,” Bhumata Ranragini Brigade chief Desai said, after coming out of the Dargah.”Police cooperated with us this time. This is a fight for gender equality. We will try to visit the inner sanctum next time,”
Desai and other women activists were earlier denied entry to the Dargah last month.
After campaign for entry of women in Shani Shingnapur and Trimbakeshwar temples in Maharashtra, Desai had taken her movement for gender equality to the famous Dargah in Mumbai.
She was stopped short of going into the shrine on April 28 by protestors

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Proposes”Tirupati Balaji”Model For Impasse In Shingnapur

[Pune] Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Shows Solution For Shani Temple Gender Row
Spiritual guru Sri Sri today claimed to have broken the impasse on the ‘gender bias’ at Shani Shingnapur temple by proposing the “Tirupati Balaji” darshan model that keeps both men and women away from inner sanctum, but women’s activist Trupti Desai said she is awaiting a “proper decision” from Chief Minister on the issue.
The Art of Living Foundation founder today mediated on the issue by holding separate meetings with the trustees of the temple and Bhoomata Brigade leader Trupti Desai, who had recently led an agitation against the traditional ban on women at the temple’s sacred ‘chabutara’ (platform) at the temple.
“There are two models for darshans by devotees namely Kashi Vishwanath and Tirupati Balaji. This solution is based on the Tirupati Balaji model where no one — men or women — are allowed in the inner sanctum,” Sri Sri Ravi Shankar told reporters after the meeting.
However, responding to Sri Sri’s suggestion, Desai said, “If both men and women are to be disallowed to have darshan by stepping on the chabutara in future, then activists of Bhoomata Brigade should have an opportunity to perform the last Pooja at the sacred platform in the presence of Sri Sri and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.”
On January 26, at least 400 women volunteers, mainly hailing from Pune, led by Desai had made an unsuccessful attempt to storm the chabutara of the temple when police stopped the marchers at Supa village, 70 km from the shrine.