Over 22 Lakh Devotees Visit Sabarimala In First 29 Days Of Current Mandala Season, Revenue Also Up

The first 29 days of the Sabarimala Mandala-Makaravilakku festival witnessed 22,67,956 devotees visiting the hill shrine in Kerala. This is over 4.5 lakh more pilgrims than the same period last year. December 15 marked the month of the annual season, which began on November 16.

During this time, the temple also earned revenue of nearly Rs 164 crore (163,89,20,204), nearly half of which was from the sale of Aravana, which is the prasadam given to Lord Ayyappa devotees. As compared to last year, the income from Aravana sales has gone up by over Rs 15 crore.

Travancore Devaswom Board president P S Prashanth said all facilities have been arranged for the pilgrims to have a smooth darshan at the temple this year, while thanking all the departments, including the police who cooperated with the Devaswom Board making the pilgrimage a success.

"Last year we had to control the sale of Aravana because there was a shortage. We are seeing this as a win of the preparations made by the state government and the Devaswom Board. I thank the police for their crowd management. They did their homework and have managed things well," Prasanth said.

The Devaswom Board president also addressed the issue of VIP darshan, saying a protocol is being set up, which will be on the lines of that followed in other major temples.

The decision to establish a protocol follows the Kerala High Court terming as "very very serious" the "VIP darshan" provided to Mollywood actor Dileep recently. The court said the VIP darshan had "virtually blocked" other pilgrims from getting darshan for several minutes. The two-month-long pilgrimage to the hill shrine will conclude with the Marakaravilakku on January 14, 2025.