Unprecedented rush at Sabarimala

An unprecedented rush is being witnessed at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala as the temple is open for ten days for monthly poojas and Vishu festival.

According to temple sources, devotees have to wait for hours in queue for darshan owing to the rush, which is high compared to this season of previous years. While temple authorities maintain that the onset of summer vacation for schools could be the reason for the rush, a section of devotees said that many devotees who did not turn up during the two month pilgrimage season owing to the tension over women entry were now turning up as there was no tension this time.

Sivaraman, a devote from Kannur district, said that he had to wait in queue for about five hours on Sunday to have darshan.

Temple sources said that only around 200 police personnel were deployed for duty at the temple premises, which even made crowd control difficult. The temple that opened on April 10 will be close by April 19 night.