In religion, India is the only millionaire… The one land that all men desire to see and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for all the shows of all the rest of the globe combined.
– Mark Twain
India- popularly known as the “Incredible India” and this land is filled with mysteries and astonishing things. India is having different religions and cultures. This diversity in religion and culture brings many unknown facts and beliefs which are followed in India. In many places and religions in India, Women are restricted to be the part of ritual and temples like Shani Shingnapur or Sabarmila or Ayyappa Temple, Haji Ali Dargah Trust. It was believed that if women entered, they would be in close proximity with male saint which is regarded as a sin. Eighty women fought for their rights for five long years and finally won the battle. But if you think, only women are not allowed to enter various religious places!!! Then you are wrong. There are various shrines and occasions in India where men are not allowed. There are temples where entry is permitted only to women.
Presenting the list of Temples in India where men are not allowed to enter –
1.) Attukal Bhagavathy temple
- The Attukal Bhagawathy Temple is located at Attukal, Trivandrum in Kerala. Goddess Bhadrakali is worshiped here.
- Goddess Bhadrakali is a form of Mahakali and Bhadra means good and Kali means goddess of time. So Bhadrakali is considered as the goddess of prosperity and salvation.
- The name of this temple is written in the Guinness Book of World Records for hosting the Pongala festival in which more than 4 million women can be seen participating.
- In this women are worshiped, So only women are allowed to enter the temple. Since men are not allowed to enter this temple, as a result, this temple witnesses the largest gathering of women during the festival. Only women can participate in this festival.
2.) Chakkulathu Kavu temple
- Chakkulathu Kavu is located in Neerattupuram, Kerala. Goddess Durga is worshiped in this temple.
- This temple is located on the banks of holy Pampa river which attracts pilgrims all over Kerala.
- Goddess Bhagavathi is worshiped here. This temple observes an annual ritual which is popularly known as ” Naari Pooja “. In this ritual, the male priest washes the feet of women devotees.
- In this ritual women, devotees fast for 10 days on the first Friday of December. The ritual day is called Dhanu.
- During these days, only women can enter the temple. Lakhs of women gather during the Pongal festival that took one week to the festival.
3.) Kamrup Kamakhya temple
- Kamakhya temple is in Guwahati, Assam. Women worship Goddess Kamakhya in this temple.
- People worship goddess Kamakhya and also ten Mahavidyas here. These ten Mahavidyas are Kali, Tara, Sodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala.
- This temple is also an important pilgrimage destination for general Hindu and especially for Tantric worshipers.
- This temple is among the few temple, which allows women to enter the premises during their menstrual cycle. So, men are not allowed to enter this temple.
- Only female priests or sanyasis maintains the temple where the menstrual cloth of Goddess Sati is considered highly auspicious and is distributed to the devotees.
- It is believed that Lord Vishnu had cut Maa Sati with his Sudarshan Chakra, as a result, her waist fell on the spot where the temple has been built.
4.) Bhagwati Maa temple
- This temple is situated in Kanya Kumari, Kerala.
- Women worship Goddess Parvati in this temple, who is the better half of Lord Shiva.
- It is believed that Goddess Parvati went to a lonely site in the mid of ocean for Tapasya. She tried very hard Tapasya for getting Lord Shiva as her husband.
- The temple is raised on the same spot. So, male can not enter the temple. In this famous temple of Kanyakumari, Kanya Ma Bhagwati Durga is worshiped by women only.
5.) Jagatpita Brahma temple
- This temple is located in Pushkar, Rajasthan and it is the most prominent temple of Lord Brahma.
- The married men can not enter the inner spectrum of the temple.
- The reason why men are not allowed in the premises is that according to legends, Lord Brahma performed a Yagya at the Pushkar lake which he had to perform with his wife Goddess Saraswati.
- Goddess Saraswati was late for the event, so Lord Brahma married Goddess Gayatri and completed the rituals.
- Goddess Saraswati cursed the temple that no married man is allowed to visit the inner sanctum otherwise a trouble will arise in his marital life.
- Once in a year, during Kartik Poornima of the Hindu lunar month of Kartik religious festival is held in Brahma honor. The temple dates back to 14th century.
6.) Santoshi Maa temple
- Women or unmarried girls perform the Santoshi Maa ‘Vrata’ in this temple and women and girls can perform this fast.
- They can not eat sour fruits or pickles during that period.
- Males can enter the temple to worship the goddess but can not enter the premises on Fridays.
- Santoshi Mata emerged as the goddess in the early 1960s. Her cult initially spread through word of mouth, Vrata-pamphlet literature, and poster art. So, her Vrata was gaining popularity with North Indian women.
- This Vrata teaches the devotee to spread love, sympathy, and happiness.
- Santoshi Maa Vrata performed by women on 16 consecutive Fridays wins the goddess’ favor.
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