Small section of people protesting, many have supported us: Sabarimala women

Speaking to NDTV, Bindu said: "It's a very small section of people who are protesting in Kerala and are violent. A lot of people have supported us and respected us. It's parties who are trying to play politics."

"I knew my life will be in danger but I still wanted to go into the temple. We are proud that we have made it easier for women who want to go to Sabarimala now," said Kanaka Durga, the second woman who had entered the shrine with Bindu.

Saying that they had entered the temple because it was their constitutional right after the Supreme Court gave a verdict in favour of women, Bindu said: "It's about devotion but it's also about gender equality."

After their visit, the head priest of the temple had closed it and performed "purification" rituals. Bindu said it was an "insult" to women.

Kerala has been on a boil since the two women's entry with political parties observing protests across the state. On Saturday, a CPM worker was stabbed and crude bombs were hurled at a BJP leader's house. Police have arrested more than 1,000 people.

Two women create history:

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the two women in their mid 40s entered the shrine on Wednesday with police protection, media reports said.

Video footage of the incident, where two women could be seen entering the temple, has gone viral on social media.

The women reportedly reached the temple around 3:45 am.

According to some media reports, these two women have been identified as activists Bindhu and Kanaka Durga.

After the women's entry,  the temple was closed for "purification rituals", a move that was slammed by various outfits saying it was practising untouchability.

Why is the controversy?

On Sept 28, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had lifted the ban on women's entry into the Sabarimala temple declaring the relevant rules as unconstitutional.

For centuries, menstruating women had been banned from entering the temple in devotion to Lord Ayyappa. 

Following the top court's verdict, the shrine opened on Oct 18 for the first time allowing menstruating women, belonging to the age group of 10 to 50, to enter the temple.

However, several men and women had protested outside the temple, and tried to prevent the entry of women in the shrine.

Congress, BJP on same page:

With the elections round the corner and the emergence of BJP in the state, the Congress is singing in the tune of the saffron party in Kerala.

Though Congress president Rahul Gandhi last year urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rise above politics by lending an unconditional support to the BJP in the Lok Sabha on women's reservation bill, the Sabarimala issue has exposed a different stand of the country's oldest party.

On Thursday, when the BJP supported a statewide shutdown called by right-wing organisations, the Congress observed a "black-day" in Kerala, apparently remaining in the same page with BJP on the issue of women's entry in Sabarimala.

Protests break out after women's entry:

Kerala was on an edge as several protests broke out after the two women's entry into Sabarimala temple on Wednesday. On Thursday, three BJP women were reportedly stabbed in a clash in Thrissur.

Chandran Unnithan (55), Sabarimala Karma Samithi activist, who was injured in a clash during the protest against women's entry into Sabarimala temple on Wednesday, has died.