A gender activist and the founder of the Bhumata Brigade, Trupti Desai has become a prominent face in the Sabarimala temple row after she announced that she would visit the shrine, which saw frenzied protests from devotees against the Supreme Court's decision to allow women of all ages to offer prayers.
Bhumata Brigade is a Pune-based social activist organisation which was formed in 2010.
Born in Nipani taluka of Karnataka, Desai studied home science at the Pune campus of Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Women's University but had to discontinue after the first year due to family problems. In Pune, Desai was made the president of an organisation known as Krantiveer Jhopdi Vikas Sangh, which was her first foray into activism.
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Desai and the brigade have campaigned to get entry for women to religious places like the Shani Shingnapur Temple, the Haji Ali Dargah, the Mahalakshmi Temple and the Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple.
In 2003, Desai was a social worker with Krantiveer Jhopdi Vikas Sangh to help rehabilitate slum dwellers.
From 2007 to 2009, Desai staged protests against the financial irregularities at the Ajit Cooperative Bank involving a fraud of Rs 50 crore. In 2011, she also participated in the anti-corruption movement.
Amid heavy protests by the devotees against the Supreme Court's order on allowing entry of women of all ages to Sabarimala temple, Desai on Wednesday said she along with six other women in the 10-50 age group will visit the temple.
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The Lord Ayyappa shrine will re-open for the two-month-long Madala-Makkarvilakku puja from Saturday.
There was high drama at the Nedumbassery Airport in Kochi on Friday when Desai was blocked from leaving for Sabarimala as a large number of devotees staged a "nama japam" protest clapping hands and chanting 'Swamiye Ayyappa'.
Desai and her associates are still held up inside the airport for over seven hours.
Police in large numbers were present in the domestic terminal of the airport to deal with the situation.
While the devotees are firm that she would not be allowed to step out of the airport, Desai maintained that there was no question of going back without having darshan at the temple, which opens for the third time after the Supreme Court order on September 28 allowing all women to enter the famous shrine.
Earlier, Desai in an email to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought security as she fears attack on her during the visit to the hill shrine.
"We will not return to Maharashtra without darshan at the Sabarimala temple," she said, adding, "We have faith in the government that it will provide security for us."
Earlier, she had also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure security for her visit to the shrine.
The temple had witnessed a series of protests from Congress, BJP, RSS and right-wing outfits against the CPI(M)-led LDF government's decision to implement the September 28 apex court verdict, lifting the ban on the entry of women in the 10-50 age group.
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The shrine was opened for four days in October and two days this month for the monthly pujas when the protests were held.
(With inputs from agencies)
