印度 女性「印度妇女围成620公里的人链就是为了看一眼禁欲系男神」

就在全世界人民喜迎元旦的时候，500万的印度妇女走上街头，一起来抗议印度Sabarimala神庙禁止“月经年龄妇女”入内的法令。

在印度的喀拉拉邦有一座名叫Sabarimala的印度教神庙，是印度教最神圣的寺庙之一，每年都吸引上百万的信徒。

可是和大部分印度的神庙一样，这个神庙禁止处于月经年龄的妇女入内，上到50岁下到10岁的女性统统不能进。

印度教认为月经年龄的女性不洁，禁止她们参加宗教仪式。另外一个原因，反对者称这里供奉的神是一个公开的禁欲系男神。

然而，在男女平等的呼声下，印度最高法院于2018年9月推翻了这项禁令。

The Sabarimala shrine was historically closed to women of "menstruating age" - defined as between 10 and 50.

Sabarimala神庙历来就禁止10-50岁，处在月经年龄的女性进入。

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.

为了保证自己的礼拜权利，妇女们纷纷请愿，主张性别平等。收到请愿书之后，最高法院同意让妇女在Sabarimala神庙中礼拜。

BBC

但是，法院的决定仍然阻挡不了抗议者，阻止、甚至袭击女性访客。

一些信徒称，如果有女性进去，自己就再也不去Sabarimala神庙礼拜了。

"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.

“过去30年我们一直来这寺庙礼拜。但我们之后可能不来了，因为进入圣殿的妇女会破坏我们的信仰体系和神圣的仪式，”一位信徒Murugan告诉BBC。

BBC

于是，这场关于平权和宗教传统的冲突终于在周二爆发。成千上万来自喀拉拉邦的妇女走上街头，形成了长达620公里人链，来争取自己宗教的权利。

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.

成千上万的妇女形成了一条620公里长的人链，以支持最高法院的决定。

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.

当地官员向BBC透露，来自喀拉拉邦各地的约500万妇女聚集在国家高速公路上，形成了从Kasaragod北端延伸到Thiruvanthapuram南端的人链。

The Guardian

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."

一位年轻的示威者Kavita Das告诉BBC：“这个抗议活动很好地诠释了女性的力量，让我们学会如何赋予自己权力，如何互相帮助。我支持允许所有年龄段的女性进入，传统或任何落后的行为不应该阻止女性。那些想要祈祷的人必须有权祈祷。”

Another woman, Tanuja Bhattadri, observed: " I believe men and women are equal."

另一名女性Tanuja Bhattadri说道：“我相信男人和女人是平等的。”

BBC

可是反对者也有一套理论。他们声称禁止月经年龄妇女入内不仅符合传统，也符合神灵的愿望？？？

因为这个神庙供奉的神Lord Ayyappa是一个公开的独身主义者。

那么，这个Lord Ayyappa到底是什么来历呢？

印度教万神殿中的每一位神都有自己的个性，有着独特的传说，关于Lord Ayyappa有几种比较流行的说法。

一种就是我们比较熟悉的仙侠小说的写法啦，女妖爱上了禁欲系男主。

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.

根据传说，Ayappa因为两个男神的结合而出生，这使他有能力击败一个在此之前不可阻挡的女妖。

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.

然后，根据仙侠小说的套路，女妖爱上了他，想嫁给他。但他拒绝了，说自己要归隐森林，用余生来回应信徒的祈祷。

She persisted, so he said he would marry her the day new devotees stopped coming to seek his blessings.

她依然坚持。于是他说哪一天再也没有新的信徒寻求他的祝福，那一天就与她结婚。

That never happened.

然而，这一天从来没有到。

The legend says that she waits for him at a second temple, which lies on the way to the main Sabarimala shrine.

传说她在另一个寺庙等待他。这个寺庙位于通往Sabarimala神庙的路上。

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.

所以从此，妇女不再去这两个寺庙，来成全这对神仙眷侣。

BBC

另一个简化的版本就比较简单了。

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.

在这个版本的故事中，Ayappa发誓要回答每一位来到他身边的信徒的祈祷，并回避所有世俗的欲望，包括与女性接触，这就是为什么女性不允许进入他的神殿。

BBC

越是禁欲系男神，越想撩啊

神话归神话，在周二的大规模抗议活动中，一小部分女性试图进入寺庙，但是最终被迫离开。

今年10月，有两名妇女到达了神庙的门口，最后的5公里她们走得无比漫长。

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多名警察保护在她们周围，为她们遮挡抗议者投来的石块。在与信徒对峙之后，她们最终被迫转身，距离Sabarimala的圣殿只有几米远。

BBC