Melsanthi S Arun Kumar Namboothiri opens the Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple for the Makaravilakku season, in Pathanamthitta, Kerala.
Credit: PTI Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: As part of crowd management exercise at Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala during the Makaravilakku festival, spot booking facilities for devotees will be limited to 5,000 from January 8 to 15.
Virtual queue booking is also limited to 60,000 on January 12, 50,000 on January 13 and 40,000 on January 14, which is the Makara Jyothi day.
The state police have advised devotees to avoid camping at the hillock. Police will inspect devotees proceeding to Pampa at Nilakkal as part of controlling devotees from cooking for camping at Sabarimala to witness the Makara Jyothi.
Till January 5 a record number of 39, 02,610 pilgrims visited the hill shrine during this pilgrimage season that began on November 15. Last year 35, 12,691 devotees visited the shrine during the same period, said a statement from the police.