PATHANAMTHITTA : The Sabarimala temple on Friday witnessed huge rush of devotees ahead of the weekend holidays. Since early morning, pilgrims made a beeline for darshan utilising maximum slots on the Virtual Queue facility.
As soon as the sanctum sanctorum opened at 3am, thousands of devotees thronged the ‘Nadapanthal’ and the police officials had a tough time managing the crowd at Sannidhanam. Over one lakh devotees visited the temple during the past one week after the opening of the hill shrine for annual pilgrimage.
In the first five days since the temple opened on Vrishchikam 1, as many as 3,17,923 devotees visited Sabarimala. It was around 2 lakh in the previous season.
On Friday, the virtual queue was booked full with 70,000 slots while more than half of the devotees completed darshan by the evening.
As many as 77,026 devotees visited the temple on Thursday while 9,254 pilgrims among them depended on spot booking. Heavy rush was also seen near the prasadam distribution counters.
Information centre opened at Kochi airport
KOCHI: Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P S Prasanth on Friday inaugurated the Sabarimala Information Centre at Kochi airport. The centre, located at the arrival area of the Domestic Terminal (T-1), would function 24*7. Among other services, Sabarimala pilgrims could prebook ‘appam’ and ‘aravana’ offerings through the ‘digital counter’ of the information centre.
The TDB is extending the service in tie up with the South Indian Bank (SIB). Pilgrims have to submit the receipt at the SIB counter near Malikapuram temple at Sabarimala, to receive the ‘prasadam’. The donations for ‘annadanam’ could be made through the digital counter via QR code facility or digital card. The e-hundi facility is also being extended to pilgrims through the centre. On November 14, Minister P Rajeeve inaugurated the Sabarimala Pilgrim Facilitation Centre at the domestic arrival section.
Snakes, wild boars translocated
Since the start of the pilgrimage season, the forest department has caught as many as 33 snakes from Sannidhanam and released them in the deep jungle. Officials said, five vipers and 14 wild snakes were caught. The forest department’s special officer in Sannidhanam, Lithesh T, said that extensive arrangements were made for a safe pilgrimage season. Ahead of the pilgrimage, dangerous tree branches were cut and removed on the traditional paths. As many as 93 wild boars were also caught from Sannidhanam alone and translocated.
They said that forest guards, including authorised snake catchers and elephant squads, were ready to ensure the safety of pilgrims. Forest department officials also appealed to use only the traditional paths for the journey to Sannidhanam. Travelling through roundabout routes can be risky, they said, adding that the forest department’s eco-guards, including tribal people, are also assisting pilgrims.
Pilgrim-friendly services
The KSRTC’s new information counter has been opened at the Nilakkal bus hub. The service is available 24 hours, they said. For stay at the Sannidhanam, the devotees can book rooms online and on the spot. The Devaswom Board has 540 rooms in various guest houses. Rooms can be booked at onlinetdb.com 15 days ahed of the stay.
Pilgrims rescued
Forest officials on Friday rescued two women Sobhana, 63, Sakunthala, 63, natives of Kollam. The duo who were part of a 10-member group collapsed and got injured when they got trapped in the forest. Similarly, three Ayyappa devotees from Tamil Nadu, who were trekking through the traditional forest path as part of a 17-member group, also got injured and trapped in the forest on Thursday night. They got primary health checkup. One pilgrim has been admitted to the hospital at Sannidhanam.