However, the Mumbai high court ruled women have the fundamental right to enter temples, with a six-month jail term for those preventing them.
The activists say they will try again to enter the Shani Singhnapur`s inner sanctum, calling for police protection.
Some 100 villagers, including many women, blocked the attempt by activists from the Bhumata Ranragini Brigade (Women Warriors of Mother Earth) to enter the shrine on Saturday.
The Shani Singhnapur temple has for centuries been open only to men, one of the few in India to preserve the tradition.
The activists said they were testing Friday`s ruling by the Mumbai court, which affirmed the right of women to enter and pray inside temples.
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