Sabarimala: The Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala which reopened on Monday is seeing a huge rush of devotees for the Makaravilakku festivities.
Lakhs of devotees have visited the temple in the days since the temple reopened. However, the rush of devotees for the second leg of the two-month-long annual pilgrimage season is such that people have to wait hours before getting a darshan of Lord Aiyyappa.
"At the time of entrance at Marakoottam, there are no boards or other indications there. So any indication or information near Marakoottam should be available freely. At the same time, people come with children. They are affected sometimes," said Shankar, a Priest at Madurai Meenakshi Temple
Seeing the crowd, The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has announced the temporary suspension of issuing special passes for devotees arriving on foot via the forest route.
This decision was taken to prevent prolonged waiting times for darshan among devotees arriving through Pamba using the virtual queue system and spot booking.
Previously, arrangements had been made to issue special passes for 5,000 devotees coming up through the forest route.
However, the number of devotees arriving via the forest route has increased fivefold now.
"It is good coming here, but the problem is that since the temple remains closed on the 28th, 29th, and 30th of December, so the crowd has increased significantly. The Kerala government is unable to manage this crowd, and Ayyappa devotees are facing problems. The Kerala government is failing to provide even basic facilities here. I request the Telangana government to bring this matter to the notice of the Kerala government," said Jitendra, a devotee from Hyderabad.
The temple was earlier closed on December 26 at 10 pm following the mandala puja, accompanied by the recitation of Harivarasanam. Thousands witnessed the mandala puja, marking the culmination of the 41-day-long first leg of the annual pilgrimage season. The Lord Ayyappa temple reopened on December 30 for the Makaravilakku festival on January 14. (With agency inputs).
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