Sabarimala Annual Pilgrimage Begins; Check Arrangements, Transport Facilities

Drones, CCTV cameras and 13,000 police personnel are some of the security measures in place to ensure a smooth, safe and happy pilgrimage to the Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala.

Thiruvananthapuram: Thousands of pilgrims, mostly from Kerala and the other southern states, converged at the famous Sabarimala temple to pay obeisance to Lord Ayyappa as its doors were opened on Friday, commencing a two-month-long pilgrimage to the hill shrine. Devotees from the states, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, formed long queues at the Sannidhanam as the temple doors were opened by priests at 3 am on Friday, the first day of the auspicious Malayalam month of Vrichikam, for the annual pilgrimage.

The sanctum sanctorum was opened on the eve of the pilgrim season on Thursday under the aegis of temple ‘tantri’ (head priest) Mahesh Mohanaru. New ‘melshanthis’ (chief priests) of the Sabarimala and Malikappuram temples — P N Mahesh and P G Murali respectively — have assumed charge for conducting rituals at the shrine for next one year.

Sabarimala temple arrangements

1. The authorities have taken steps to ensure a safe and smooth pilgrimage for all devotees, and the support of advanced technologies has been used for the same.
2. A dynamic queue control system has been introduced this season to manage crowding at Sannidhanam.
3. Apart from this, a video wall will also be set up at Nilakkal, Pampa, and Sannidhanam to inform devotees about the rush.
4. Parking and other facilities arranged at ‘edathavalams’ — resting places along the pilgrimage route — for devotees.
5. The KSRTC has provided 200 buses for chain service in the Pampa-Nilakkal route. Both Low floor AC and non AC buses are available. The service will be available as usual at 7 am and 3.40 pm in Naranamthod, Atthamod, Kanamala, Tulapally and Pambavali areas, according to onmanorama.com
6. Drones, CCTV cameras and 13,000 police personnel are some of the security measures in place to ensure a smooth, safe and happy pilgrimage to the Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala.
7. Emergency health centres have been set up at 15 places on the route between Pampa and Sannidhanam.
8. An ‘arm-band scheme’ has also been implemented for the protection of children.
9. A control room is also being set up at Sannidhanam, Pampa and Nilakkal to coordinate disaster relief operations in an integrated manner.

The hill shrine, nestled inside the deep forests in Pathanamthitta district, and its premises would reverberate with the holy chants of Lord Ayyappa for two months starting Friday, the first day of the Malayalam month of Vrischikam.