As the annual pilgrimage season at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple draws to a close, the unprecedented influx to the hillock here has propelled the income from the annual pilgrimage season to a record high. The Travancore Devaswom Board reports a remarkable income of ₹357.47 crore, marking a significant increase of ₹10.35 crore compared to the previous season’s ₹347.12 crore. The sale of aravana contributed ₹146.99 crore, and appam sales brought in ₹17.77 crore. The board, meanwhile, is yet to complete the sorting of cash collected through the hundi boxes and anticipates that the total income to exceed ₹365 crore. It may rise further if the income from Nilackal, Pampa and Erumely too are included. According to P.S. Prashanth, president, TDB, the number of devotees witnessed a notable rise with approximately 5 lakhs more pilgrims ascending the hill this season, totalling 50 lakhs. The number of pilgrims who visited the temple during the previous season, when the pilgrimage returned to normalcy after the pandemic-induced restrictions in the previous years, was 44.16 lakh. He attributed the successful conclusion of the season to the coordinated efforts of various government departments under the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Devaswom Minister K. Radhakrishnan.
“Although some malicious forces launched a propaganda campaign in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections , we could overcome it and facilitate a smooth pilgrimage for the devotees’’, he said. The authorities could ensure more sanitation facilities by installing 1,100 container toilets at Nilakkal and 500 in Pampa. An additional batch of about 1,200 toilets were also installed on the trekking path from Pampa to Sannidhanam. The two-months long season, however, did not pass without challenges .Dense crowds on the hillock and long queues of vehicles were evident, especially in the run-up to the Mandala puja on December 27. To manage the crowd, the TDB had to implement abrupt cuts in the daily quota of virtual queue bookings and extend the darshan time by one hour. With the crowd on the hillock turning dangerously dense and traffic hold-ups leading to skirmishes between police and devotees, the episode had also assumed political dimensions as the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party mounting an attack on the State government. Meanwhile, the heavy influx of devotees provided much-needed relief to the cash-strapped Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which reported a revenue of ₹38.88 crore this season. The State-owned carrier operated 1.37 lakh chain services between Nilakkal and Pampa and 34,000 long-haul services. The annual season drew to a close with the performance of the Guruthi ritual near the Malikappuram Devi temple on Saturday evening. Though the temple will be opened on Sunday at 5 a.m., ‘darshan’ will be allowed only for the representative of Pandalam Palace. The sacred jewels brought from the Pandalam palace will be taken back on Sunday evening and the temple will be reopened for the monthly poojas on February 13 evening.
