THRISSUR: Alleging that the Kerala government is using temples and festivals as a means to loot devotees, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the lack of facilities has put the pilgrims in hardship.
Addressing a mammoth women’s rally in Thrissur on Wednesday, he termed the politics in the name of Thrissur Pooram as unfortunate. “The INDIA alliance knows only to hurt our religious sentiments. They are turning our celebrations and festivals into a mode of corruption. We are all witnessing the political games in the Thrissur Pooram,” he said.
The prime minister’s remarks came in the backdrop of the Travancore Devaswom Board’s failure to manage the huge crowd at Sabarimala recently.
The crowd management at Sabarimala had gone chaotic for three days from December 8 to 11 and an 11-year-old girl from Tamil Nadu had collapsed and died as the devotees had to wait for 16 hours for darshan. Many devotees from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were forced to terminate their pilgrimage at Pandalam Ayyappa temple due to the heavy rush. After the tragic incident, the Devaswom Board reduced virtual queue booking.
The dispute over the Thrissur Pooram exhibition began after the Cochin Devaswom Board hiked the rent of Thekkinkadu Maidan where the Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu Devaswoms conduct the exhibition.