According to those acquainted with the situation, the state government has made considerable preparations for the annual Mandala-Makaravilakku festival, which will attract lakhs of devotees from Kerala and neighboring states. The Sabarimala temple will open its doors on Friday evening for the event.
According to police, the doors of the sanctum sanctorum would open in the evening, and representatives of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which is in charge of running the temple, stated that devotees will be permitted to ascend the hill to Sannidhanam from the Pampa base camp by 1 pm.
The sanctum sanctorum of the hill shrine dedicated to Lord Ayyappa will remain open for 18 hours a day in two phases — from 3 am to 1 pm and again from 3 pm to 11 pm.
The Tamil Nadu Diwas (TDB) has allowed spot booking for pilgrims during the annual festival of the Aranmula Parthasarathy temple. The TDB plans to have 70,000 slots per day on the virtual queue system and 10,000 slots through spot booking, particularly for non-digital pilgrims. The spot booking system will be available at Pampa, Erumeli, and Vandiperiyar.
Pilgrims must present their ID cards, such as Aadhaar or voter ID, for spot booking. The Kerala high court has asked the TDB to file a report on the implementation of the virtual queue and spot booking systems and whether they will send back pilgrims who have registered on neither system.
The court also requested that KSRTC not operate bus services where pilgrims will have to stand and that vehicles without fitness certificates should not be allowed for the pilgrimage. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has installed three rain gauges around Sabarimala and will provide dedicated decentralized weather information for the first time for Sabarimala.
The 41-day Mandala pilgrimage will begin on Saturday and end on December 26, after the adoration of the “thanka anki” on the deity. The second phase of the Makaravilakku festival will begin on December 30 and conclude on January 20, 2025.
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Source: HT
