Three wise men to discuss Jayamala issue

The Travancore Devaswom Board is meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday to discuss the controversy sparked by Kannada actress Jayamala's claim that she had entered the sanctum sanctorum of Sabarimala temple, which women aged between 10 and 50 years are not allowed to enter.

The three-member board, headed by its president G Raman Nair, is expected to decide on the mode of inquiry to be ordered into the Jayamala episode, which has triggered strong reactions from different quarters.

According to sources, the board is likely to seek the co-operation of the state government as its own investigative wing had limitations in conducting the probe in a sensitive matter involving inter-state ramifications.

The TDB's vigilance wing, headed by a Superintendent of Police, entrusted with the task of a preliminary probe, had failed to record the statement of Jayamala in Bangalore.

Controversies kicked up by the Devaprasnam -- astrological examination of temple affairs -- held at Sabarimala recently is also to figure in today's meeting.