PATHANAMTHITTA: Marking the conclusion of the Mandalam- Makaravilakku annual pilgrimage season, the Sabarimala temple was closed on Monday.
According to the initial figures of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), over 53 lakh devotees visited the temple during the pilgrimage season.
Over 10 lakh devotees had spot darshan, as per the initial estimates.
Officials said the successful inter-departmental collaboration between various government agencies helped in a smooth and complaint-free pilgrimage season this year.
Following the darshan of Pandalam Palace royal representative Thrikketta Nal Raja Raja Varma, the sanctum sanctorum was closed at 6.30 am.
The box carrying sacred jewels, Thiruvabharanam, also returned to the Pandalam Palace. After this, the royal representative reached Sopanam and had darshan of Lord Ayyappa. After the rituals, melshanthi Arun Kumar Namboothiri closed the sanctum sanctorum and handed over the keys to the royal representative.
Ascending the sacred 18 holy steps, the royal representative then handed over the keys to Sabarimala Administrative Officer Biju V Nath in the presence of Devaswom Board members and the melshanthi.
A payment (Panakkizhi) for the monthly rituals was also handed over on the occasion.
After this, the royal representative and his group returned to the Pandalam Palace. The Thiruvabharanam proces sion will reach Pandalam on January 23. According to TDB president P S Prashanth, the pilgrimage season witnessed an unprecedented influx of devotees, with approximately 6.31 lakh more pilgrims turning up this year.
The total number of devotees stood at 53.99 lakh, compared to 46.77 lakh in the previous season.
The surge of pilgrims was also reflected in the revenue of the temple. Preliminary estimates indicate an increase of approximately `90 crore over the previous season’s income of Rs 357.47 crore.
Prashanth said there was a high demand for aravana while collections from hundi also showed a sharp rise.
“The revenue from aravana sales increased to Rs 192 crore from Rs 147 crore last season, while hundi collections rose to Rs 127 crore from Rs 109 crore,” he said.
The increased income will greatly contribute to the financial security of the 1,252 temples under the Board, as well as support over 13,000 families, including around 5,000 pensioners, he said.
Meanwhile, the TDB is still in the process of sorting the cash collected from the hundi boxes. The total income is expected to see a rise after calculating the revenue from Nilackal, Pampa, and Erumely.