Tension runs high in Kerala's Nilackal, the main gateway to Sabarimala, this morning after the police used force to disperse devotees opposing the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the hill shrine.


The police, deployed in large numbers in Nilackal, which is roughly 20 kilometres away from the Sabarimala hilltop, also removed a makeshift shelter erected by a protesting group Sabarimala Achara Samrakshana Samiti.


The protesting group of devotees had been staging a sit-in chanting Ayyappa mantra in the shelter in protest against the Supreme Court order permitting women of all age groups to enter the shrine.


Police have said they will not let anyone to block the movement of devotees to the shrine and warned against those who create hurdles. The police took strong action against protesters after some of them checked the vehicles heading to Pamba and prevented the women in the age group of 10 and 50 from entering the hill shrine.


A couple from Tamil Nadu, aged 45 and 40, on their way to Pamba, were forced to get off the KSRTC bus Monday night allegedly by some activists of the Sabarimala Achara Samrakshana Samiti. Although the couple had said that they would go only up to Pamba and not climb Sabarimala, the activists prevented them.


Around 500 police personnel, including women, have been deployed in Nilackal to ensure a safe passage to the pilgrims to the Lord Ayyappa temple.