Women Devotees

An age old discipline that is still followed in vartham is the ban on the entry of young women where women aged between 10 and 50 cannot take up deeksha.

One of the main reasons cited to justify this traditional stand is the duration of period of penance. Tradition insists on 41-day severe penance before undertaking the pilgrimage. The fact that it is womanly impossible to stick on to a strict routine laid down against a conservative Hindu background, especially the stigma attached to menstruation, is cited as one reason for restricting women's entry. Similarly, kms long trek from Tirupati to Tirumala through hazardous forest path is physically a demanding task. However, this argument will not hold good in today's world abundant with examples of Amazonian talents.