NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's top court on Tuesday agreed to review its ruling two months ago that removed a ban on women of menstruating age from entering a prominent Hindu temple in the southern state of Kerala, following widespread protests against the decision.
The Supreme Court will on Jan. 22 hear all 49 petitions seeking a review of its previous decision, a lawyer directly involved in the case told reporters.
Conservative Hindu groups had prevented women from entering the Sabarimala hill temple in Kerala state in recent weeks, clashing with police and damaging cars and buses. Their action was in defiance of the Supreme Court ruling that lifted a centuries-old ban on women or girls aged from 10 years to 50 from entering the temple.
In September, a five-judge bench of the top court had ruled the ban was illegal, saying it infringed the right to worship.
(Reporting by Malini Menon; Editing by Martin Howell)