Day 2: Lakhs queue up for Sabarimala pilgrimage; complaints of lack of water for devotees

As lakhs of devotees queued up for 'darshan' at the Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala here on the second day of the annual 'mandala-makaravilakku' pilgrimage season, there were reported complaints of lack of water for pilgrims standing in the line for several hours on Tuesday.

Following the complaints and the large crowd of devotees, many of whom had cut the line, on the temple grounds, newly appointed Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president K Jayakumar said 200 additional personnel have been assigned to go to the people in the queues and provide them with water.

He also said that instructions have been issued to ensure devotees are able to steadily climb the 18 steps for the darshan and that no one cuts the lines to move in front.

"I have never seen such a massive and dangerous crowd on the temple grounds till now. It appears some people cut the lines to jump in front. Even I am scared seeing the large crowd here.

"I have issued directions to ensure steady movement of the pilgrims and ensure no one cuts the line or queue. Such a large crowd should not have collected here," he said.

Jayakumar also said that he has issued directions to restrict the flow of devotees at Nilakkal to reduce the crowd of pilgrims at Pamba and ensure they can complete their pilgrimage quickly without having to wait 3-5 hours in queues.

"People can wait at Nilakkal. There are facilities there for that. Also, will set up seven additional spot booking counters there so that devotees do not have to come to Pamba for that.”

"We will also explore the possibility of capping the number of spot bookings in a day," he said.

The TDB president also said that the devotees were not entering the queue complexes set up at Sabarimala, afraid that they might lose their priority in the line.

"But, if they enter the queue complexes, it would be easier for us to provide them water and biscuits," he said.

He said that, nevertheless, 200 additional personnel have been assigned to go to the people in the queues and provide them with water as devotees are standing in the line for several hours.

He also said that around 200 cleaning personnel were being brought from Tamil Nadu to clean the toilets at Sabarimala.

Nearly two lakh devotees have arrived at the shrine till Tuesday noon after the temple opened on November 16 evening for the 'mandala-makaravilakku' pilgrimage season.

Till Tuesday 12 noon, 1,96,594 devotees have arrived at the shrine, including through spot booking, the Board said in a statement.