Recently I went to Pushkar. I visited a temple of Lord Kartikeya where women aren't allowed.
What is the reason behind this?
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It should be a restriction peculiar to that temple. Because, in Tamilnadu women are allowed into Karthikeya temples. Or it should be similar to the Karthikaya temple in Pehowa, Haryana where Karthikeya is in Brahmachari form.– TheLoneKingJul 9, 2014 at 12:37
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@Dharmaputhiran What it has to do with "Brahmachari form" as Lord Hanuman is Brahmachari but never heard that women were not allowed in there temple..let me know if something I am missing here– TrialcoderJul 9, 2014 at 12:46
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Even in the Lord Ayyappan temple at Sabarimala, women who have attained puberty are not allowed. It is because the residing deity is a Brahmachari. I don't know why Lord Hanuman is an exception.– TheLoneKingJul 9, 2014 at 13:04
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@Dharmaputhiran lol ..lets see if someone else could display an answer here :)– TrialcoderJul 9, 2014 at 13:07
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1I think @Dharmaputhiran has a valid point. I am not sure why this is practised in Pushkar, but , in general, women should not worship or visit temples during their periods. In North India, this custom has been forsaken by Hindus. (Many in SI are also following suit). Perhaps some temples are trying to maintain sanctity by imposing these rules.– user1195Dec 23, 2014 at 7:24
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2 Answers
When Lord Kartikeya was doing meditation Lord Indra gets jealous that Brahma might give him more power than himself. So he plans to distract Lord Kartikeya by sending the most beautiful Apsaras. Lord Kartikeya gets angry and curses that "any woman who comes to his place to distract him from his meditation shall turn into stone".
In time, it has become a belief that women coming to visit Pushkar might get cursed instead of being blessed. That's why women are not allowed in Pushkar.
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3What is the pramANam for this story?– user1195Dec 23, 2014 at 7:19
I think it could be because of the same reference story as in case of Lord Kartikeya's Kurukshetra temple. It was about a competition between Lord Kartikeya and his brother Lord Ganesha and its after effects. I have already discussed about this in my question here.
