Taking a serious note of the crowd flow to Sabarimala that continues unabated, authorities are bringing in rapid measures to keep the rush under check ahead of the Makaravilakku festival.
In a bid to slow down the influx of pilgrims, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has now decided to wind up its spot booking window completely from January 10 – five days ahead of the Makaravilakku festival. The virtual queue bookings for January 14 will be limited to 50,000, while the ceiling will be brought down by another 10,000 for the following day.
“Pilgrims usually begin camping on the hillock at least three days prior to the festival to watch the Makaravilakku and the Thiruvabharanam procession. Given this backdrop, there is a need to regulate the inflow to ensure overall safety,” said P.S. Prashanth, president, TDB.
