SABARIMALA: A sea of pilgrims converged on the Sabarimala temple to witness the Makarajyothi on the occasion of Makaravilakku on Saturday. According to the Travancore Devaswom Board, more than 2 lakh devotees thronged the hill shrine on the day. This is believed to be the biggest gathering for Makaravilakku at the temple in the last two decades.
The temple had been receiving more than 90,000 devotees per day since January 10, and around 50% of them stayed back to witness the Makarajyothi. The devotee numbers have helped boost temple finances with revenue set to cross a record `400 crore this year.
As the Makarajyothi appeared on Ponnambalamedu at 6.46pm, the whole Sannidhanam reverberated with ‘Saranam Ayyappa’ chants. The atmosphere turned electrifying as the light flickered thrice, ending the devotees’ year-long wait.
Every inch of Sannidhanam was occupied by devotees and the rush was unprecedented. Many had erected temporary shelters at the Pandithavalam view point, while others thronged Saramkuthi, Marakkoottam, Pampa hill top, Panjippara, Nellimala, Ayyanmala, Ilavunkal and Attathodu.
According to Pathanamthitta Collector Divya S Iyer, around 2 lakh devotees thronged the temple to witness Makarajyothi. Around 2,000 police personnel were deployed to control the crowd at Sannidhanam.
The rush threw all arrangements for crowd control out of gear. With the parking area at Nilakkal getting jam-packed, police stopped vehicles proceeding to Pampa at Erumeli on Saturday morning. The devotees staged a protest and the authorities had a hard time pacifying them. The entry of pilgrims was regulated at Pampa at 10am.
5,528 pilgrims throng view point at Pulmedu
The temple has been witnessing steady flow of pilgrims from the beginning of the season on November 16 and the average footfall was around 80,000 per day. The highest revenue at Sabarimala was recorded in 2017- 18 when the temple received a revenue of Rs 269 crore. As per the figures released by the TDB, the revenue stood at Rs 310 crore on January 12. According to Idukki district administration, 5,528 pilgrims thronged the view point at Pulmedu on the traditional forest route to Sabarimala to witness the Makarajyothi.