Thiruvananthapuram : Amid tight security, hundreds of devotees started their trek to the Sabarimala temple in Kerala on Saturday. Today marks the first day of the 41-day annual holy pilgrimage.

A 40-member group of woman pilgrims were reportedly stopped by the police at Sabarimala on Saturday noon. Police personnel sought proof of age as the group of women began the trek amid a heavy rush of devotees. Five women of childbearing age were sent back by the police to return to Pamba, following which they headed back without any resistance. Meanwhile, the rest of the members of the group resumed trekking to the hill shrine. They were part of a group from Vijayavada in Andhra Pradesh.

The opening of the Sabarimala temple comes after a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had referred a clutch of petitions seeking a review of its order last year, which paved the way for the entry of women of all ages into the shrine to a larger seven-judge bench by a majority 3:2 ruling.