THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the state government is bracing for a tough annual Mandala-Makaravilakku season in Sabarimala, after putting in place several curbs to limit the number of devotees, it seems devotees are wary of entering crowded temples. Despite the government capping the daily number of devotees allowed to enter the Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple at 1,000, the iconic shrine now witnesses less than 50% of the permitted number of devotees.
K B Mohandas, chairman, Guruvayur Devaswom, told TNIE, “Though 1,000 people are allowed to have darshan at the temple daily after booking their visit through the virtual queue system, hardly 50% of them turn up . The Covid control measures undertaken by the Devaswom haven’t quite allayed the concerns of the public, it seems.”
According to a senior Devaswom official, “Of the around 500 devotees who visit the temple daily, half of them are locals in the absence of devotees who have booked their visit. The online registration is full everyday, but only a quarter of them show up. Owing to this, locals having Aadhaar identification are allowed for darshan.”
The number of marriages held at the Guruvayur temple, several of them offerings made to the principal deity by parents of grooms, too has been drastically hit. Compared to the pre-Covid times when around 100 weddings used to take place daily at the divine abode, their number has come down to a handful now. This despite the fact that up to 60 marriages are allowed to take place at the temple daily.
Under the new rules, devotees are not allowed to enter the chuttambalam. Further, only one devotee at a time is allowed in front of the sanctum sanctorum and the restrictions have resulted in a sense of alienation among devotees. In normal times, the entire area would be swamped by devotees. The decision to stop ‘Prasadam Oottu’ and curbs on the amount of time the devotees are allowed to remain at the temple have contributed to the drop in the numbers, said officials.
