SABARIMALA: The Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam (SASS) has urged the Travancore Devaswom Board to allow 3,000 pilgrims a day to enter the temple for darshan during the 2020-21 pilgrimage season that begins on November 16.
SASS state president Akeeramon Kalidasa Bhattathiri told TNIE that the TDB should convince authorities concerned to raise the ceiling on the number of people allowed to book via the virtual queue to 3,000 from 1,000 a day during the weekdays. The Samajam wants the Board to allow 5,000 devotees to enter during weekends.
Akeeramon said the daily limit was fixed based on the number of devotees visited the temple during the monthly poojas from October 17 to 21, where only half of those who booked a slot visited the temple.
But during the annual pilgrimage season, there will be a 20 to 30 per cent increase in the number of devotees compared to monthly poojas. Hence more pilgrims must be allowed to enter Sabarimala, Akeeramon said.
The government should also give free Covid-19 test to devotees, he said. “Making devotees pay for the test is morally and ethically wrong because the state generates thousands of crores of rupees as revenue during the annual pilgrimage season,” he said.