Nov 16, 2024 12:12 PM IST
The Sabarimala shrine had already garnered several devotees even before the temple opened a few hours before the annual festivities on Saturday.
The Kerala police stated on Saturday that they have made arrangements to handle a rush of up to 1 lakh devotees for the opening of the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple for this year’s Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage, reported news agency PTI.
Chief police coordinator ADGP S Sreejith said that the situation is under control and the force is equipped to handle a large crowd of devotees. The Sabarimala shrine had already garnered several devotees even before the temple opened a few hours before the annual festivities on Saturday.
ADGP Sreejith stated that 30,000 devotees had already completed their darshan by Saturday morning. The flow of devotees has also been smooth with around 15,000 receiving darshan early in the morning, the ADGP said.
The 41-day-long pilgrimage season commenced on the first day of the auspicious Malayalam month of Vrichikam on Saturday.
The temple’s sanctum sanctorum opened at 4 pm on Friday under the charge of current temple head priest Kandararu Rajeevaru and his son, Kandararu Brahmadathan who will be replacing him, while ‘melsanthi’ (chief priest) P N Mahesh Namboothiri led the rituals, sources told PTI.
State government departments and the police have made extensive arrangements to ensure a smooth and safe darshan process for all devotees during the pilgrimage season.
The government has said that 70,000 devotees will be permitted to have darshan each day through the virtual queue booking system. Additionally, 10,000 devotees will be allowed to book slots for darshan at counters set up on the way to the shrine, sources told the news agency.
In a first for the Sabarimala pilgrimage, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also introduced a localised weather forecasting system, similar to those for the Amarnath and Char Dham yatras.
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