就在全世界人民喜迎元旦的時候，500萬的印度婦女走上街頭，一起來抗議印度Sabarimala神廟禁止“月經年齡婦女”入內的法令。
在印度的喀拉拉邦有一座名叫Sabarimala的印度教神廟，是印度教最神聖的寺廟之一，每年都吸引上百萬的信徒。
圖片來源 KAVIYOOR SANTHOSH
可是和大部分印度的神廟一樣，這個神廟禁止處於月經年齡的婦女入內，上到50歲下到10歲的女性統統不能進。
印度教認為月經年齡的女性不潔，禁止她們參加宗教儀式。另外一個原因，反對者稱這裡供奉的神是一個公開的禁慾系男神。
然而，在男女平等的呼聲下，印度最高法院於2018年9月推翻了這項禁令。
The Sabarimala shrine was historically closed to women of "menstruating age" - defined as between 10 and 50.
Sabarimala神廟歷來就禁止10-50歲，處在月經年齡的女性進入。
The Supreme Court decision to let women worship at the Sabarimala shrine came after a petition argued that the custom banning them violated gender equality.
為了保證自己的禮拜權利，婦女們紛紛請願，主張性別平等。收到請願書之後，最高法院同意讓婦女在Sabarimala神廟中禮拜。
BBC
但是，法院的決定仍然阻擋不了抗議者，阻止、甚至襲擊女性訪客。
一些信徒稱，如果有女性進去，自己就再也不去Sabarimala神廟禮拜了。
"We have been coming to temple for the last 30 years. But we may not come back because women entering the temple will spoil our belief system and sacred rituals," Murugan, a devotee, told BBC Hindi's Imran Qureshi.
“過去30年我們一直來這寺廟禮拜。但我們之後可能不來了，因為進入聖殿的婦女會破壞我們的信仰體系和神聖的儀式，”一位信徒Murugan告訴BBC。
BBC
於是，這場關於平權和宗教傳統的衝突終於在週二爆發。成千上萬來自喀拉拉邦的婦女走上街頭，形成了長達620公里人鏈，來爭取自己宗教的權利。
圖片來源 CV LENIN
Hundreds of thousands of women have formed a 620km-long human chain across a southern Indian state in support of a court order overturning a partial ban on women entering one of Hinduism’s holiest temples.
成千上萬的婦女形成了一條620公里長的人鏈，以支持最高法院的決定。
Officials told BBC Hindi's Imran Qureshi that around five million women from various parts of Kerala had gathered across all national highways to form the chain, which stretched from the northern tip of Kasaragod to the southern end in Thiruvanthapuram.
當地官員向BBC透露，來自喀拉拉邦各地的約500萬婦女聚集在國家高速公路上，形成了從Kasaragod北端延伸到Thiruvanthapuram南端的人鏈。
The Guardian
圖片來源 CV LENIN
各個職業的女性都參加了抗議，她們中有政府僱員、學生、家庭婦女等。據報道，政府僱員也參加了示威遊行。學校放假半天，大學考試被推遲，以便學生參加抗議活動。
One young demonstrator, Kavita Das, told BBC Hindi: "This is a great way of saying how powerful women are, and how we can empower ourselves and help each other. Of course, I support the move to allow women of all ages into the temple. I don't think tradition or any kind of backwardness should stop women. Those who want to pray must have the right to pray."
一位年輕的示威者Kavita Das告訴BBC：“這個抗議活動很好地詮釋了女性的力量，讓我們學會如何賦予自己權力，如何互相幫助。我支持允許所有年齡段的女性進入，傳統或任何落後的行為不應該阻止女性。那些想要祈禱的人必須有權祈禱。”
Another woman, Tanuja Bhattadri, observed: " I believe men and women are equal."
另一名女性Tanuja Bhattadri說道：“我相信男人和女人是平等的。”
BBC
可是反對者也有一套理論。他們聲稱禁止月經年齡婦女入內不僅符合傳統，也符合神靈的願望？？？
因為這個神廟供奉的神Lord Ayyappa是一個
公開的獨身主義者。
那麼，這個Lord Ayyappa到底是什麼來歷呢？
圖片來源 維基百科
印度教萬神殿中的每一位神都有自己的個性，有著獨特的傳說，關於Lord Ayyappa有幾種比較流行的說法。
一種就是我們比較熟悉的仙俠小說的寫法啦，女妖愛上了禁慾系男主。
According to one legend, Ayappa was born out of a union between two male gods which gave him the ability to defeat a she-demon who had been unstoppable until then.
根據傳說，Ayappa因為兩個男神的結合而出生，這使他有能力擊敗一個在此之前不可阻擋的女妖。
She fell in love with him and asked him to marry her, but he refused, saying he was destined to go into the forest and answer the prayers of his devotees.
然後，根據仙俠小說的套路，女妖愛上了他，想嫁給他。但他拒絕了，說自己要歸隱森林，用餘生來回應信徒的祈禱。
She persisted, so he said he would marry her the day new devotees stopped coming to seek his blessings.
她依然堅持。於是他說哪一天再也沒有新的信徒尋求他的祝福，那一天就與她結婚。
That never happened.
然而，這一天從來沒有到。
The legend says that she waits for him at a second temple, which lies on the way to the main Sabarimala shrine.
傳說她在另一個寺廟等待他。這個寺廟位於通往Sabarimala神廟的路上。
Women do not visit either temple - the belief is that to do so would insult both the deity and the sacrifice of the woman who loved him.
所以從此，婦女不再去這兩個寺廟，來成全這對神仙眷侶。
BBC
另一個簡化的版本就比較簡單了。
In this version of the story, Lord Ayappa eventually took a vow to answer the prayers of every devotee who came to him, and shunned all worldly desires including contact with women, which is why women are not permitted inside his temple. There could also be other legends associated with the deity and why women are not allowed inside.
在這個版本的故事中，Ayappa發誓要回答每一位來到他身邊的信徒的祈禱，並回避所有世俗的慾望，包括與女性接觸，這就是為什麼女性不允許進入他的神殿。
BBC
越是禁慾系男神，越想撩啊
神話歸神話
在週二的大規模抗議活動中，一小部分女性試圖進入寺廟，但是最終被迫離開。
今年10月，有兩名婦女到達了神廟的門口，最後的5公里她們走得無比漫長。
Two women managed to reach the main temple premises in October, with more than 100 police protecting them from stone-throwing protesters as they walked the last 5km stretch to the shrine. They were ultimately forced to turn round after a stand-off with devotees, just metres from Sabarimala's sanctum. (BBC)
100多名警察保護在她們周圍，為她們遮擋抗議者投來的石塊。在與信徒對峙之後，她們最終被迫轉身，距離Sabarimala的聖殿只有幾米遠。
BBC
整合：Xiao Liangliang
圖：網絡
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