Lord Ayyappa temple witnessed a heavy flow of pilgrims for darshan on Monday defying the statewide hartal call by the LDF and the 48-hour road blockade by the Catholic Association and other such faction in Idukki, Palakkad and Wayanad districts.
In the morning heavy rush was witnessed at the fly-over at Sopanam, Lower Thirumuttom and Valiyanadapandal, forcing the pilgrims to wait for two to three hours for the darshan of the Lord.
Similar rush of pilgrims was seen at Pampa, where pilgrim flow was normal like other pilgrimage days. However, there were complaints of non availability of food items due to closure of hotels across the state.
The distribution of free food at important towns and temples by voluntary organisations like Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam and Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangham partly met the food availability.
KSRTC operates 148 schedules
KSRTC operated 148 schedules to and from Pampa on Monday, KSRTC Pampa special officer Easter Yashika said.
He said that 357 Pampa-Nilackal services were also operated.