Police showed restraint at Sabarimala, says TDB chief
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar has said that the police showed restraint at Sabarimala during the recent untoward incidents. The board is getting the support of the government and the High Court-appointed monitoring committee. The arrangements made by the government yielded good results, Padmakumar told mediapersons at Sabarimala on Wednesday.
The other day, Padmakumar had appealed to women not to visit the shrine during the Makaravilakku season to avoid untoward incidents. Devout women should not venture to visit the shrine considering the possibility of violence.
The TDB president said the recent visits of some women could be part of a conspiracy to create issues. The board does not have any mechanism to check whether the women are devotees, he said.
Padmakumar said that 32 lakh devotees have visited the shrine so far. There has been an increase of 14 lakh in the kanikka revenue during the past 39 days. But the total revenue during this season showed a drop - from 160 crore to 105 crore. The board expects the revenue would be on a par with that of the previous season by Makaravilakku. Complaints on appam and aravana would be probed, he said.