KOCHI: The Kerala Police have made a clarion call to the Sabarimala devotees insisting they use the online booking portal ‘sabarimalaq.com’ for booking darshan this season.The police say the devotees overlooking the online booking system will have to stand in long queues even for getting a connection bus from Nilakkal to Pampa.
Already 36,000 pilgrims have used the portal to book darshan for the coming season. The police expect it to have a minimum three-four lakh booking before November 17, the starting day of the season.
Thiruvananthapuram Range Inspector General Manoj Abraham said with government strictly banning entry of private vehicles from Nilakkal to Pampa, the pilgrims will have to rely on KSRTC buses.
“Priority will be be given to those pilgrims who’ve utilised the online reservation system. On peak days, there’ll be heavy rush and those devotees without online booking will have to wait at Nilakkal to get space in the buses. We’ve devised the booking system analysing the heavy rush days and allotment is made to ensure the pilgrims get darshan without much hassle,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, the police will also open counters at Nilakkal to verify the pilgrims’ online booking details. “It’s a big challenge for the police to set up necessary infrastructure to facilitate smooth darshan for pilgrims who’ve done online booking,” said another officer.
The police are also wary of the high number of devotees who will reach Sannidhanam through alternate routes, mainly Pulmedu and Erumeli trekking paths. Though the department has unofficially decided to limit the number of pilgrims to nearly one lakh per day through the online booking system, it will not be a viable option as devotees will be forced to shun the online system if they don’t get allocation for darshan on their preferable days.The Travancore Devaswom Board has put the number of pilgrims close to 5.5 crore during the 2017-18 annual season.