Sabarimala pilgrimage season begins today

TNN / Updated: Nov 16, 2023, 12:29 IST

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The Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple in Kerala will open for the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season. The temple will be open until December 27 for Mandala Puja and will then reopen for the Makaravilakku festival on December 30. The state police have made arrangements for the pilgrimage, with 13,000 policemen deployed in six phases. Special arrangements have been made for the elderly and children, including a virtual queue system. Additional mobile towers have been set up for better internet connectivity, and a round-the-clock customer service center is operating.

Sabarimala pilgrimage season begins today

The temple’s sanctum sanctorum will be opened at 5pm on Thursday

KOTTAYAM: The Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple will open for the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season on Thursday. Head priest K Jayaraman Namboothiri will open the sanctum sanctorum in the presence of thantri Kantararu Mahesh Mohanaru at 5pm. Rituals will be held until the day of Mandala Puja on December 27 and the temple will be closed at 10pm.It will reopen for Makaravilakku festival on December 30. Makaravilakku is on January 15.
Police all set
State police chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb said all arrangements had been put in place. After holding a meeting with senior officers in Pamba on Wednesday, Saheb said that 13,000 policemen would be deployed for duty in six phases. Special arrangements will be made for the aged and the children to have darshan. Three temporary stations will be set up, at Sannidhanam, Nilackal and Vadasserikkara. Drones will be used. Fifteen counters have been made ready for the virtual queue system. Pilgrims who reach Pamba should park vehicles at Nilackal for which 17 grounds have been arranged. The DGP said vehicles reaching Nilackal should have FASTag as parking would be allotted using it.
Internet connectivity

BSNL has set up 11 additional mobile towers along major roads leading to Sabarimala for smooth connectivity. Officials said the pilgrims would get optical fibre connectivity with 300 Mbps speed at Sabarimala, Pamba and Nilackal. A round-the-clock customer service centre is operating at Pamba and Sabarimala. The pilgrims will get a public Wi-Fi facility in virtual queues at Pamba and the Sabarimala queue complex.
Visudhi Sena
Visudhi Sena, the army of sanitation workers at Sannidhanam, Pamba and Nilackal, will begin its activities on Thursday. Pathanamthitta collector A Shibu will officially kick-start it at Pamba at 8am.
KSRTC control rooms
Pamba special bus services from various places started on Wednesday. As many as 220 buses will ply on the Pamba-Nilackal route as chain service. Contact nos: Pamba: 0473 5203445, 9446592999; Nilackal: 9188526703

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