If successful, the two would be the first women of menstruating age to visit the Sabarimala temple after the Supreme Court permitted women of all age groups to enter the shrine.

On Thursday, the New Delhi-based woman journalist was stopped midway by devotees.

The journalist, who was accompanied by a foreigner male colleague, descended the hills from the Marakkoottam area in the face of mounting protests.

A case has been registered against the devotees who allegedly prevented her from entering the temple.

The Sabarimala temple was opened for a five-day monthly puja in the Malayalam month of Thulam on October 17. PTI

Two women, one of them a reporter from Hyderabad, began trekking to Sabarimala hill Friday amid protests by devotees who are opposing the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the temple.

Their attempt to reach the shrine started a day after New Delhi-based Suhasini Raj, a reporter of The New York Times, failed to enter as stones started raining on her.

Police led by IG S Sreejithhave threw a security ring around the women on Friday.

Devotees have been continuously protesting the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the Lord Ayyappa temple.

The woman reporter from Hyderabad is in her late 20s. Details on the second woman, who was carrying an irumudikkettu (holy bundle), are not known.