In terms of spontaneous popular response, political impact and social consequences, Kerala has in recent memory not witnessed anything as significant as the Sabarimala protest. In its political dimension, it can only be compared to the Ayodhya movement in the north in the 1990s. But unlike the Mandir agitation, this one is led more by women and social organisations like the Nair Service society (NSS) than by a political party. Sabarimala has united Hindus as never before, isolated the ruling CPI(M), made chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan vulnerable and political parties irrelevant. Some of them, like the BJP and the Congress, might try to cash in on it, but the agitation as such is on autopilot.