The women entered a Hindu temple in southern state of Kerala in the early hours, a day after thousands of women formed a human chain across the state, raising fears of a backlash from conservative and far-right Hindu groups.

Hundreds of thousands of Hindus –– men, young girls and elderly women –– trek to the temple for an annual festival that usually falls around the end of the year.
Hundreds of thousands of Hindus –– men, young girls and elderly women –– trek to the temple for an annual festival that usually falls around the end of the year.
(AP)
Two women on Wednesday entered one of Hinduism's holiest shrines in south India becoming the first to go into Sabarimala temple since the Supreme Court ordered the end of a longstanding ban on women aged between 10 and 50, a state chief minister said.
The temple has been at the centre of weeks of showdowns between Hindu devotees supporting the ban and women activists who have been forced back several times from Sabarimala.
Media reports said the women entered the hilltop temple just before dawn with police security.  "It is a fact that the women entered the shrine. Police are bound to offer protection to anyone wanting to worship at the shrine," Kerala state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.
She said the two women, who had previously tried but failed to enter the temple because their way was blocked by devotees, faced no obstruction on Wednesday.

The development comes a day after tens of thousands of women formed a human chain across the state in support of the court order.
The 'Women's Wall' rally was backed by the communist government in Kerala state where the court order on Sabarimala temple has triggered weeks of protests by opponents and supporters of the ban.
Media reports and supporters of the initiative claimed hundreds of thousands of women formed a human chain across the 620-kilometre length of the state.

Angry showdown Kerala has become the venue of an angry showdown between Hindu traditionalists and far-right groups, and supporters of September's Supreme Court ruling which ended a longstanding ban on women.
Several women have since tried to reach the hilltop shrine but been forced back by opposing activists. Police have clashed with devotees supporting the ban and have arrested more than 2,000 people.
Hundreds of thousands of Hindus –– men, young girls and elderly women –– trek to the temple for an annual festival that usually falls around the end of the year.
The Supreme Court is to hear challenges to its landmark ruling from January 22.
Many Hindu groups and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) oppose the ruling. They argue that the court has ignored their beliefs that the deity Ayyappa was celibate.Source: trtworld.com