Kochi: Kantaru Rajeevaru, the head priest (tantri) at the Lorad Ayyappa temple at Sabarimla has said that darshan timing (time for viewing the sanctum sancorm) cannot be increased at the current context.
His clarification came in response to the Kerala High Court's query whether the sanctum sanctorum, which is open for 18 hours a day, can remain open for an extra 30 minutes or one hour.
“We have already extended the darshan timings by an hour. It cannot be extended further,” tantri said.
The sanctom sanctorum, which currently opens at 3am, closes at 11pm.
High Court on Sunday asked the police and temple authorities to take steps for crowd management and control of vehicular traffic to ensure smooth 'darshan' for pilgrims.
The court also asked the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to increase darshan timings to accommodate the huge crowd.
The slew of directions came with an increase in footfall at the famed Lord Ayyappa shrine during the ongoing pilgrimage season.
With the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, devotees have turned up in huge numbers this year at Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district of the state for the annual two-month long Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage which began on November 17.The increase in footfall also resulted in crowd management and traffic control issues, especially on Saturday when close to a lakh bookings were made via the virtual queue system and around 90,000 devotees arrived for 'darshan', the high court noted in its special sitting held during the day.
A few police personnel on duty sustained minor injuries due to issues in crowd management, the court was told.
In view of these developments the previous day and the fact that virtual queue bookings were above one lakh for Monday, a bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and P G Ajithkumar held a special sitting and directed the District Collector and the District Police Chief of Pathanamthitta to evolve a crowd management plan when the expected footfall is above 75,000 per day.
The plan would be evolved as per the virtual queue bookings and in consultation with the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and the Special Commissioner, Sabarimala, the bench said.
Vehicular traffic
Regarding the management of vehicular traffic on the routes to Sabarimala, the court directed the District Police Chief to arrange patrolling on motorcycles when the movement of vehicles is blocked for long periods.
"In case the movement of vehicles is blocked for a considerably long period, the Travancore Devaswom Board shall make necessary arrangements for providing 'chukkuvellam' (water) and biscuits to pilgrims in such vehicles," it said.
It further directed that when parking grounds at Nilakkal in Pathanamthitta reaches the maximum capacity, entry of vehicles has to be regulated appropriately by the police.
"The restrictions imposed on the parking of vehicles at Nilakkal parking grounds shall be made known to the pilgrims, through the public address systems at edathavalams," the bench said. Edathavalams are halting points for pilgrims.
The TDB was also directed to ensure that the parking contractor engages sufficient staff to ensure proper parking of vehicles.
The court's directions came on three separate pleas initiated by it on its own with one regarding the management of the virtual queue system and the other two based on individual complaints on restrictions on entry of vehicles from Nilakkal to Pamba and difficulties faced by pilgrims at Nilakkal and Pamba in the absence of queue system for the passengers boarding KSRTC buses.
All three were taken up in the special sitting in view of the crowd management issues faced on Saturday at the shrine.
Congress slams govt
Meanwhile, the Congress-led UDF opposition alleged that the Left government completely failed to be prepared for the huge footfall expected this year at Sabarimala.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan alleged that the state government and the TDB failed to realise that number of pilgrims would increase post-COVID.
He said that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and ministers concerned should visit Sabarimala to take stock of the situation and issue necessary directions.
Satheesan also suggested that a responsible minister be given full control over what is happening at the temple till the pilgrimage season gets over.
The 41-day Mandala puja festival will conclude on December 27.
Thereafter, the temple will be opened again on December 30 for the Makaravilakku pilgrimage, which will end on January 14, 2023.
The shrine will be closed on January 20, 2023 concluding the pilgrimage season.
(With PTI inputs.)
