Amidst a continuing rush of devotees, the 41-day annual Mandalam pilgrimage season at Sabarimala in Kerala is set to draw to a close on December 27 (Wednesday).
The rituals during the day were led by the chief priest (Tantri), Kandararu Mahesh Mohanararu. The Mandalapuja was performed between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. on Wednesday. Prior to the puja, the presiding deity was adorned with the Thanka Anki, a golden attire that had been brought to the temple in a ceremonial procession.
The shrine is set to be closed by 11 p.m. on Wednesday and is scheduled to be reopened for the Makaravilakku festival on December 30.
Petta Thullal at Erumely will be held on January 12, 2024, while the customary procession carrying the Thiruvabharanam to Sabarimala will set off from Pandalam a day later. The Makaravilakku day falls on January 15 and the Ayyappa temple will be closed after the customary holy darshan permitted exclusively to the royal representative on January 21 morning.
Heavy rush of devotees
Meanwhile, the pilgrimage zone from Nilackal to Sannidhanam continued to witness a heavy rush of devotees on Wednesday morning. The crowd, who had reached Pampa in the morning, waited up to seven hours to reach the 18 holy steps at the Sannidhanam. With the queues extending up to the Sabaripeedom, the police had a tough time regulating the crowd. The inflow, however, moderated considerably after 9.30 a.m. on Wednesday and continued without any major disruptions.
As per estimates, just over 75,000 persons visited the temple on Tuesday.
Despite measures brought in by authorities to limit the inflow of pilgrims, the Mandalam season was marked by an unprecedented rush of devotees in different cycles. The delay in clearing the backlog of devotees at the Sannidhanam had often spilled over to Pampa and the Nilackal base camp, triggering protests by irate devotees and creating traffic gridlocks.
Traffic regulation
In a bid to ease the rush, authorities were forced to implement traffic regulation at the stopover points such as Erumely and Ettumanoor to ensure adequate parking space at Nilackal. Irked by the long wait, devotees often picked up arguments with the police and even staged sit-in protests on the road, causing further disruptions in traffic.
Notwithstanding the cap on daily limit of pilgrims, the police too was not very happy about a high number of pilgrims making their way to the hillock through spot-bookings. Senior police officials, including Additional Director General of Police M.R. Ajith Kumar, had pointed out the risk involved in accommodating a crowd much beyond its capacity on the temple premises.
Minister’s direction
Acknowledging a perceptible rise in pilgrim inflow when the temple reopens for the Makaravilakku season, Devaswom Minister K. Radhakrishnan has directed the departments concerned to augment the facilities in the pilgrimage zone.
