Sabarimala temple closes after monthly pujas

After the five-day-long monthly pujas, which drew an unprecedented influx of devotees, the portals of the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala were closed on Monday.

According to estimates from the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the number of pilgrims saw a significant surge, with over 1.8 lakh devotees visiting the hill temple from October 16 to 21. Notably, half of this number ascended the hillock on just two days — October 19 and 20.

“As per estimates, around 60,000 people visited the hill on October 19 alone, while approximately 50,000 came in the following day,” said TDB president P.S. Prashanth. On the final day, around 14,000 devotees visited the temple via booking slots in the virtual queue. In addition to those who pre-booked darshan slots through the virtual queue, a few thousand more made the pilgrimage via spot bookings.

Mr. Prashanth said the crowd began to swell from Friday evening onwards, peaking by Saturday morning. “Nearly half of these pilgrims were from Kerala, though groups from other States also joined,” he added.

The sheer volume of devotees, unusual for the monthly pujas, caught authorities by surprise. This led the TDB to extend darshan timings by three hours and issue a public appeal for cooperation with crowd management measures during the Udayasthamana puja and Padi puja, two key rituals unique to the monthly observances.

Officials admitted that they were still uncertain as to why such a large crowd gathered ahead of the annual pilgrimage season. “Monthly pujas are typically seen as lean periods. Perhaps devotees are eager to avoid the heavier crowds that are common during the main pilgrimage season,” suggested a TDB official.

Published - October 21, 2024 07:24 pm IST