'Women have equal right to enter temple'

Women have a fundamental right to enter temples, the high court in Mumbai has said, possibly paving the way for an easing of gender restrictions at places of worship across the country.  Some Hindu temples in India ban women from entering the inner sanctum, with Kerala's famous Sabarimala temple barring all female worshippers aged between 10 and 50 years. The court's directive came Friday after an activist challenged the centuries-old ban on women entering the inner sanctum of Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra state's Ahmednagar district.