Sabarimala: Ban on women fails four key tests of constitutional morality

Excluding menstruating women from the shrine also violates Article 17 -- the Constitutional provision prohibiting untouchability

Nearly a century ago, the princely state of Travancore was convulsing with the question of entry of lower castes into the temple at Vaikom. As holy a sage as Sree Narayana Guru, the saint of the Ezhavas, had been prevented from using the roads around the Vaikom Shiva temple. Upon the request of some citizens of Travancore, Mahatma Gandhi had sent Congress workers, including EV Ramaswami Naicker (Periyar), to help in the Satyagraha, demanding equal entry to the temple. 

The Maharaja of Travancore at the time was Shri Chitra Thirunal – then 12 years old. His step-mother and regent, Sethu