Sabarimala: The Sabarimala temple in Kerala will remain closed to the public until further notice due to the overflowing Pamba river, authorities said on Thursday.
The temple was closed on August 13 following massive floods.
According to the authorities, the floods have caused damage of Rs 100 crore to the temple infrastructure.
A Padmakumar, president of the Travancore Devasom Board which manages the Sabarimala temple, told the media that they had no other option but to close it down. However, all the religious rituals of the temple will be conducted.
The staff and priests at the shrine were starving for days since the bridges were washed away. Food was airlifted on August 19. But on Thursday it was reported that the food which was being carried to the shrine was stopped by the forest department.
Water washes away everything
The sluice gates of two dams that forms a part of the Sabarigiri project, Kerala's second largest after Idukki, was opened after heavy rains and subsequent floods ravaged places in and around the temple town.
The hill shrine, traditionally open only during from the middle of November till the middle of January, has been kept open for a few days at the start of every Malayalam month since the last few years.
Pampa changes course, washes away pilgrim infrastructure
The flood that struck Kerala has changed even the course of the Pampa at Pampa-Triveni in the foothills of Sabarimala.
The pilgrimage infrastructure built on the banks of the Pampa has been washed away. The resting rooms, the Triveni car parking and the Ramamurthy Mandapam with a capacity to accommodate 4,000 pilgrims,was also washed away.
The original course of the Pampa is a mud pool while the river has started flowing in full power along the pilgrim track destroying all that was in its way.
A furious Pampa washed away two bridges that connected the hill shrine. Information centres, the Pampa hilltop and the steel watch tower were also washed away.
