Devotees throng Sabarimala temple.
Credit: Special arrangement
Thiruvananthapuram: The Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala is witnessing a heavy rush of pilgrims during the opening days of the two-month long pilgrimage.
Pilgrims were forced to wait in queue even for more than ten hours for darshan.
According to an official statement, on November 16, the day on which the temple opened, 53,278 pilgrims visited and on November 17 as many as 98,915 pilgrims visited. Till 12 noon on Tuesday (November 18), 44,401 pilgrims visited.
With the police setting up barricades near the 'Pathinettam padi' (18 holy steps), many were reportedly jumping the barricades leading to chaos. The holy steps and nearby areas were jam packed.
Many children and elderly persons suffered discomfort owing to the commotion. Many pilgrims were complaining that they were not getting food or water.
According to the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the maximum number of pilgrims that the temple could accommodate during a day is 90,000.
Additional director general of police S Sreejith, who is in charge of the Sabarimala security arrangements, has said that even as the maximum pilgrims allowed daily through virtual queue booking is 70,000 and through spot booking is 20,000 more pilgrims are reaching the temple.
Many pilgrims are not following the time allotted in the virtual queue. This was leading to a heavy rush.
TDB president K Jayakumar said that many police and other employees assigned Sabarimala duty were yet to turn up for work.