Online booking to ensure smooth Sabarimala pilgrimage experience: Kerala minister
The temple affairs minister said that it was important to cap the number of daily pilgrims at the temple at 80,000 to ensure a safe pilgrimage devoid of accidents
The decision of the Kerala government to revoke spot booking and cap the number of daily pilgrims at Sabarimala during the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival at 80,000 has drawn criticism from the opposition parties.
Minister for Devaswom VN Vasavan told the Kerala assembly on Wednesday that the move to manage booking slots for darshan completely online was aimed at ensuring a smooth pilgrimage at the hill shrine in Pathanamthitta district.
The temple affairs minister said that it was important to cap the number of daily pilgrims at the temple at 80,000 to ensure a safe pilgrimage devoid of accidents.
He said that the decision was taken during an online meeting, which was chaired by the chief minister and attended by the officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and police. The meeting evaluated whether the online booking system of the state police was sufficient or whether spot booking of slots be permitted as well. He underlined that whenever spot booking was utilised, it resulted in a dramatic increase of pilgrims stretching up to 90,000 and 1 lakh as seen in the previous years, which causes problems in crowd management and delivery of essential services such as water and toilets.
“During the 2023-24 season, there were around 90,000 online bookings and 10,000 spot bookings in the first phase. In the second phase, there were 80,000 virtual and 10,000 spot bookings. In the next phase, there were 70,000 online bookings and 10,000 spot bookings. There will be problems in essential services if the number crosses 80,000 a day. That’s why the decision was taken to only use the virtual booking system,” Vasavan told the assembly.
He said there will be mechanisms in the virtual queue system to determine which path the pilgrims will take for the pilgrimage and appropriate crowd control measures can be put in place.
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan argued that the limiting of slots for darshan to the virtual queue system would deprive thousands of pilgrims from other states who may cannot operate computers.
“Those who are observing 41-day fasts for the pilgrimage and unable to get virtual booking slots would be deprived of offering prayers at the temple. There must be a mechanism to ensure the darshan even for those, who don’t have virtual queue bookings. Till 2018, all those who came to offer prayers at the temple were able to get access without any issues,” Satheesan said in the assembly.
He demanded that food, water and necessary toilet facilities be provided at all places where pilgrims are stopped by police en route the pilgrimage. He said the government must ensure spot booking of slots to pave the way for a smooth pilgrimage.
Members of the Pandalam Palace, associated with the legend and rituals of the temple, said that the government decision to only allow virtual queue slots will cause a lot of distress to pilgrims. They said that an arrangement must be made where 75% slots are issued through virtual mode and 25% through spot bookings.
BJP state president K Surendran also voiced the demand for spot bookings at Sabarimala, warning of strong protests by the party if the government decision is not changed.
“There are suspicions that there is an organised attempt to disrupt the annual pilgrimage. The government said last year that any lapses in the conduct of the pilgrimage in the previous season would be corrected this year. Just one month ahead of the start of the pilgrimage, no such steps have been taken. Roads have not been repaired and the work on toilets and basic arrangements at Pampa and Nilackal have not begun,” the BJP leader said.
