THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the Legislative Assembly that pilgrims visiting Sabarimala without online registration should be allowed darshan during the upcoming Mandala-Makaravilakku season. He pointed out that the government allowed spot booking last year as well. The response came after various Hindu organisations decided to up the protest against a government decision to make online booking mandatory for all pilgrims, on Wednesday.
Earlier the online reservation was stressed to limit the number of pilgrims visiting the shrine to 80,000. However, this resulted in protests from Opposition UDF and other organisations.
Chief Minister had convened a meeting with the Travancore Devaswom Board, Police and District Administration to make arrangements for the pilgrimage season. The meeting discussed crowd-controlling measures and improved facilities for pilgrims with the help of prior booking details.
The details of pilgrims available as a digital document through virtual queue registration, help ensure safety in Sabarimala and locate people in case of accidents. The virtual queue system is modelled after the system in Tirupati temple. It was introduced in 2011. Chief Minister said the virtual queue system would be strengthened and made foolproof.