They were there to donate gold for the making of an idol of deity Manikanta, better known as Ayyappa.
Hundreds of devotees fell over themselves to contribute their mite in the form of jewellery for a 105-kg panchaloha idol.
Panchaloha, an alloy of five metals - gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc - is considered auspicious for making idols.
Queueing up at the temple near Taranatha Ayurveda College, the devotees donated gold rings, bangles, bracelets, chains, earrings and earstuds. Some even bought gold from a shop on the premises to contribute.
Many of the humble contributors requested the temple managers not to publicise their names, a polar opposite of the normal practice of the rich and influential who let the world know their deeds, exemplified by the much-publicised donation of a jewel-encrusted gold crown to the reigning deity at Tirumala by a mining baron.
The temple managers sought 2.5 kg of gold, but what they received was close to 5 kg.
Sculptors have been invited from Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu to cast the Ayyappa idol. In an unusually transparent practice, the temple managers have built a crucible in front of the temple where in public view the donated gold and other metals are melted to make the five-alloy idol.
Chairman of the Sabarimala Ayyappa Trust, Jayaprakash Gupta, told Deccan Herald that the idol would be consecrated at the temple -- a replica of the famed structure in Sabarimala -- on April 11.