Udupi : Vidyadheesha Tirtha Swami of Paryaya Palimar Mutt said on Wednesday that religion had its own protocols which should be respected with regard to the entry of women at the Ayyappa Swami Temple at Sabarimala in Kerala.

Speaking to presspersons here, the Palimar seer said that anyhow there was no blanket ban on the entry of women to Sabarimala temple. Only women having menstrual cycles had been barred from entering the temple. “We have a Constitution and there are administrative protocols. So too religion has its own protocols. Both have to be respected,” he said. To a query, the seer said that he did not want to comment on the Supreme Court’s verdict on the issue or question it. Already, an appeal had been filed against this verdict.

“But there was no problem for so many years as all had accepted the arrangement at the temple. So why question it [the religious practice] now? I feel it is better to allow the rules that the temple has been following to prevail instead of creating a needless controversy about it. People should enter temples with devotion and not by compulsion,” the seer said.