Pilgrimage season begins at Sabarimala

Pilgrims who had begun camping at Pampa from Wednesday, despite heavy showers, were allowed to the hilltop from Thursday afternoon. The authorities are expecting a surge in pilgrim footfall this season

Tantri Kandararu Mahesh Mohanararu opening the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala for the Mandalapuja festival on Thursday. | Photo Credit: LEJU KAMAL

Marking the beginning of a two-month-long annual pilgrimage season, the doors of the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala opened for the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival on Thursday. Temple chief priest Kandararu Mahesh Mohanararu opened the sanctum sanctorum in the absence of the outgoing head priest K. Jayaraman Namboothiri. This was followed by the opening of the Upadevata temples and transferring of the scared fire to the Aazhi.

Travancore Devaswom Board president P.S. Prasanth, Sabarimala Special Commissioner M. Manoj, Pathanamthitta District Collector A. Shibu etc. were present on the occasion.

Melsanthis’ installation

Later in the day, the installation of newly selected Melsanthis for the Ayyappa temple and the Malikappuram Devi temple — P.N. Mahesh and Murali P.G. — was done. The new Melsanthis will hold charge of their respective temples for the next one year.

Meanwhile, the opening day of the season began on a positive note with the hill temple witnessing a heavy rush of pilgrims. The pilgrims, who had begun camping at Pampa from Wednesday evening despite the heavy showers, were allowed to the hilltop from Thursday afternoon. The two-month-long season, which used to attract millions of devotees every year till the pandemic outbreak in 2019-20 season, returned to full vigour last season with the lifting of restrictions.

As per official estimates, around 50 lakh pilgrims visited the temple last year with the revenue crossing ₹350 crore. The authorities, meanwhile, are anticipating a further surge in pilgrim footfall this season, especially from the neighbouring States.

13,000 police officers

As many as 13,000 police officers will be deployed on duty in six phases to manage the crowd and the entire pilgrimage zone has been brought under a strict surveillance network. Three temporary police stations — one each at Sannidhanam, Nilackal and Vadasserikkara — have been opened. Parking has been arranged in 17 grounds in and around Nilackal and as many as 15 counters have been opened for virtual queues.

The Fire and Rescue Services will deploy around 3,000 personnel, including teams trained in mountaineering and scuba diving. K. Padmakumar, Director General of the Fire and Rescue Services, has launched a control room at Pampa to coordinate the department’s functioning. The Motor Vehicles department has kickstarted the Sabarimala safe zone project to ensure the safety of pilgrims’ vehicles.