Following a surge in the number of devotees arriving for pilgrimage to the Lord ayyappa temple at sabarimala here, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) decided on sunday to expand the 'darshan' hours by an hour. According to a district administration official, the Board agreed to change the darshan hours in the second part of the day from 3 pm to 11 pm instead of 4 pm to 11 pm.
The official further stated that devotees standing in queue for darshan will be given water and snacks. Meanwhile, assembly Leader v D Sathessan claimed that devotee facilities were inadequate, with pilgrims having to wait 15 to 20 hours for darshan. He said that believers weren't even given water.
Satheesan further stated that not enough police officers were posted at sabarimala to help devotees, that kerala High court directives governing pilgrim preparations had not been observed, and that appropriate ambulance services were not available. He said that if prompt action was not taken, devotees at sabarimala would data-face a major crisis, and he asked the state administration to address the problem seriously.
Many devotees were shown on tv networks claiming that they had been waiting in queue for darshan for more than 10-12 hours. Pilgrims were also observed being trapped in traffic on the way to Sabarimala. According to IG Sparjan Kumar, who is in charge of security at sabarimala, police have asked the TDB to limit the number of pilgrims to 75,000 each day.
He stated that during the current third phase of the pilgrimage, the number of devotees increased significantly, with over 90,000 bookings made via virtual line and roughly 30,000 via spot booking per day. Furthermore, there are more children, women, and old people this time of year, which has hampered efforts to get devotees to ascend the Pathinettampadi (18 heavenly stairs) as swiftly as possible, according to the officer.
On november 16, the first day of the auspicious malayalam month of Vrichikam, the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakkku pilgrimage to the hilltop temple started.
The government implemented a dynamic queue-control system this season to regulate congestion at'sannidhanam' in order to ensure a safe and seamless pilgrimage for all devotees.
The official further stated that devotees standing in queue for darshan will be given water and snacks. Meanwhile, assembly Leader v D Sathessan claimed that devotee facilities were inadequate, with pilgrims having to wait 15 to 20 hours for darshan. He said that believers weren't even given water.
Satheesan further stated that not enough police officers were posted at sabarimala to help devotees, that kerala High court directives governing pilgrim preparations had not been observed, and that appropriate ambulance services were not available. He said that if prompt action was not taken, devotees at sabarimala would data-face a major crisis, and he asked the state administration to address the problem seriously.
Many devotees were shown on tv networks claiming that they had been waiting in queue for darshan for more than 10-12 hours. Pilgrims were also observed being trapped in traffic on the way to Sabarimala. According to IG Sparjan Kumar, who is in charge of security at sabarimala, police have asked the TDB to limit the number of pilgrims to 75,000 each day.
He stated that during the current third phase of the pilgrimage, the number of devotees increased significantly, with over 90,000 bookings made via virtual line and roughly 30,000 via spot booking per day. Furthermore, there are more children, women, and old people this time of year, which has hampered efforts to get devotees to ascend the Pathinettampadi (18 heavenly stairs) as swiftly as possible, according to the officer.
On november 16, the first day of the auspicious malayalam month of Vrichikam, the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakkku pilgrimage to the hilltop temple started.
The government implemented a dynamic queue-control system this season to regulate congestion at'sannidhanam' in order to ensure a safe and seamless pilgrimage for all devotees.
