As the annual pilgrimage of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple begins on November 16, demand for relaxing the restrictions imposed on pilgrims, who have to register only through the virtual queue-booking system, has emerged.
The temple will open on the evening of November 15 and pilgrims will be allowed from November 16. Only 30,000 pilgrims will be allowed daily via the virtual queue-booking facility owing to Covid-19 situation. So far over 10 lakh pilgrims have registered on the virtual queue system.
The Mandalapooja season, which is the first phase of the pilgrimage, is from November 16 to December 26 and the 'Makaravilakku festival', the second phase, will be from December 30 to January 20. The 'Makaravilakku' ceremony is on January 14.
The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) that manages the temple informed that the pilgrimage would be conducted in adherence to the Covid-19 protocols. Apart from booking on the virtual queue, pilgrims will also have to carry either the certificate of two doses of vaccination or a Covid-19 negative certificate obtained 72 hours prior to the darshan.
TDB was learnt to have suggested that the system of allowing pilgrims only through the virtual queue-booking system should be done away with since many who booked on virtual queue, which had limited slots, did not turn up for darshan when the temple was open for monthly poojas. As a result, many were denied an opportunity for darshan because of the unavailability of slots in the virtual queue. The TDB had also prescribed a refundable fee for bookings through the virtual queue system to discourage unnecessary bookings, but it was turned down by the government.
A steep fall in the revenue from the temple was also affecting the functioning of 1,200 odd temples under the Devaswom Board since the major chunk of revenue comes from the Sabarimala temple.
The Pandalam palace authorities, who were the erstwhile custodians of the temple, as well the temple 'tantri' (head priest) were also learnt to be unhappy over allowing pilgrims only through the virtual queue. A petition against restricting pilgrims to the virtual queue system was also under Kerala High Court's consideration.
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