KOCHI: In the wake of heavy rush of pilgrims, the government has extended the time of darshan by one hour at the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala.
The decision was taken after a meeting of devaswom minister K Radhakrishnan with Thantri Kantararu Mahesh Mohanaru on Sunday.
The decision was implemented immediately by opening the temple’s nada at 3pm on Sunday.The nada will be opened at 3pm on every day during the pilgrim season.
The Devaswom Board officials said that the government as well as the board wish to ensure smooth darshan for all pilgrims. The board had informed the Thanthri about the pilgrims’ demand for increasing the time of darshan. Following the demand from the government, the board and the court, the Thanthri decided in favour of extending the time of darshan. By extending the time, the pilgrims will get an opportunity for darshan for 18 hours a day, the officials said.
Meanwhile, many devotees were seen on TV channels complaining that they have been standing in the queues for more than 10 to 12 hours for darshan. Pilgrims were also seen stuck in traffic jams along the route to Sabarimala.
IG Sparjan Kumar, who is supervising the security arrangements at Sabarimala, said that police requested the Devaswom Board to restrict the number of devotees to 75,000 per day. He said that during the present third phase of pilgrimage, the number of devotees shot up with around 90,000 bookings being made through virtual queue and nearly 30,000 via spot booking each day.
There are more children, women and elderly people this time and these have affected the efforts to make devotees climb the Pathinettampadi (18 divine steps) quickly, the officer said.
(With agency inputs)
The decision was taken after a meeting of devaswom minister K Radhakrishnan with Thantri Kantararu Mahesh Mohanaru on Sunday.
The decision was implemented immediately by opening the temple’s nada at 3pm on Sunday.The nada will be opened at 3pm on every day during the pilgrim season.
The Devaswom Board officials said that the government as well as the board wish to ensure smooth darshan for all pilgrims. The board had informed the Thanthri about the pilgrims’ demand for increasing the time of darshan. Following the demand from the government, the board and the court, the Thanthri decided in favour of extending the time of darshan. By extending the time, the pilgrims will get an opportunity for darshan for 18 hours a day, the officials said.
Meanwhile, many devotees were seen on TV channels complaining that they have been standing in the queues for more than 10 to 12 hours for darshan. Pilgrims were also seen stuck in traffic jams along the route to Sabarimala.
IG Sparjan Kumar, who is supervising the security arrangements at Sabarimala, said that police requested the Devaswom Board to restrict the number of devotees to 75,000 per day. He said that during the present third phase of pilgrimage, the number of devotees shot up with around 90,000 bookings being made through virtual queue and nearly 30,000 via spot booking each day.
There are more children, women and elderly people this time and these have affected the efforts to make devotees climb the Pathinettampadi (18 divine steps) quickly, the officer said.
(With agency inputs)