PATHANAMTHITTA : The Sabarimala temple has registered a record revenue of Rs 357.47 crore during the Mandalam-Makaravilakku season this year. Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P S Prasanth said the revenue during the season stood at Rs 357,47,71,909, an increase of Rs10.35 crore compared to last year’s Rs 347.12 crore. Of the total revenue, Rs 146.99 crore came from the sale of aravana and Rs 17.64 crore from appam sales.
“The counting of ‘kanikka’ has not been completed and we are expecting Rs 10 crore from this,” he said.
Over 50 lakh pilgrims (50,06,412) visited the hill shrine this season, as against 44,16,219 last year, he said.
‘Coordinated efforts helped for successful pilgrimage’
The TDB president said the preparations had started around seven months before the beginning of the season. “Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan had reviewed the activities of various departments. The pilgrimage was conducted successfully with proper coordination of all departments,” he said.
“Though some vested interests tried to carry out fake propaganda, the pilgrimage could be conducted successfully,” he said.
“As many as 1,100 container toilets were set up at Nilakkal and over 500 at Pampa. Over 1,200 toilets were set up from Pampa to Sannidhanam. Next time, we will arrange more facilities for pilgrims,” he said.