Lucknow: A woman's entry into a temple prompted local villagers to "purify" the entire compound with stored Ganga water and take the idol to Allahabad and give it a holy bath in the Ganga.

The controversy comes at a time a constitution bench of the Supreme Court, which is examining the Sabarimala Temple's (Kerala) bar on women in the "menstrual age", has observed that religious practices cannot violate constitutional rights.

Villagers of Muskara Khurd, 200km south of Lucknow, believe that a woman entering the ashram of Dhumra Rishi or the temple inside brings drought and famine.

But they couldn't bring themselves to tell this to the woman when she walked in on July 12 because she happened to be Manisha Anuragi, BJP politician and the local MLA from Rath, a constituency reserved for the Scheduled Castes.

So, the residents - mostly farmers and farm labourers -called a panchayat after she left and decided to "purify" the ashram and the idol of Dhumra Rishi to save themselves from the wrath of Shiva, whom the Rishi worshipped.

"We pooled money and took the idol to Allahabad (250km away) and washed it in the Sangam (the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna) during Guru Purnima (July 27)," said Lal Diwan, 60, a villager. He claimed the area had stopped receiving rain on July 12 but the rainfall resumed on July 29.

"We didn't see a drop of rain till July 27 (Friday). But after we reinstalled the purified idol on Saturday, rain started falling on Sunday," he said.

But a local journalist told this newspaper that the area had received rain on July 25.

Anuragi had come to Muskara Khurd, which falls in Hamirpur district, to attend a uniform distribution programme at the village primary school.

She told reporters she had entered the temple when some local people told her about its religious importance. "I didn't know about the people's belief and had no intention to hurt anybody," she said.

Dharm Veer, 65, the temple priest, said: "Dhumra Rishi didn't allow women to enter his ashram during his lifetime. The people of the area have been following this tradition for several thousand years."

According to the Mahabharat, Dhumra Rishi was a disciple of Atri, one of the Saptarishis (Seven Sages).Dhumra Rishi had discarded his mortal body on the banks of the Narmada in Indore district of Madhya Pradesh. His soul is said to visit Muskara Khurd every Vijayadashami and stay there till Diwali.