Why Sabarimala Shrine Sees Huge Crowd in December & How Managing Massive Footfall is a Mammoth Task

Sabarimala Shrine in Kerala is witnessing a big footfall this month resulting in chaos and anger among the many pilgrims as lots of them have to show again with out finishing their pilgrimage.

The pilgrims, who hailed from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and components of Kerala, blamed poor administration for the guests and claimed that they needed to wait in queue for so long as 10-12 hours.

An common of 62,000 pilgrims visited the hill shrine each day in the course of the first 19 days of the Mandala Pooja season, nevertheless, the quantity elevated to 88,000 in the 4 days since December 6 and this was the reason for the massive rush, a assertion from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s workplace stated on Tuesday.

The chaos and lack of services on the shrine has led to a political struggle with the opposition Congress and the BJP alleging the federal government of not offering primary services for the pilgrim. The Kerala High Court has additionally directed the authorities to make sure assist to the Sabarimala pilgrims who attain the shrine and to supply ample parking services for the automobiles.

News18 takes a take a look at the explanations behind the sudden enhance in pilgrims in Sabarimala and the challenges authorities should face:

Annual Pilgrimage Season in Sabarimala

The annual 41-day Mandalam-Makaravilakkku pilgrimage to the hill-top shrine started on November 16, the primary day of the auspicious Malayalam month of Vrichikam. The Mandala Kalam’ is an auspicious interval of worship that begins on the primary day of the Malayalam month ‘Vrischikam’ in mid-November.

Rituals can be held till the day of Mandala Puja on December 27 and the temple can be closed at 10pm.

In order to make sure a protected and easy pilgrimage for all devotees, the federal government had launched a dynamic queue-control system this season to handle crowding at ‘sannidhanam’.

The authorities additionally elevated the ‘darshan’ timings on the Lord Ayyappa shrine by an hour from 3 pm to 11 pm as a substitute of from 4 pm to 11 pm following a rise in devotees.

Huge Crowd in December

The month of December receives uncommon footfall yearly because of the annual pilgrimage season Mandalam-Makaravilakkku. This yr the determine has touched round 90,000 and will go larger.

However, this yr footfall is not a document excessive as final yr a most of 1.07 lakh devotees visited the temple on December 12.

Similarly on December 13 and 14 in 2022, the temple witnessed a footfall of 77,216 and 64,617 devotees respectively.

This yr too, a mean of 62,000 pilgrims visited the hill shrine each day in the course of the first 19 days, and 88,000 pilgrims visited since December 6, in the course of the Mandala Pooja season, a CMO assertion stated.

CM Pinarayi Vijayan has directed the officers involved to make sure a extra coordinated system to handle the heavy rush and supply obligatory services for pilgrims on the hill shrine.

Why Managing Huge Crowd is Difficult?

There are a number of causes:

• Pilgrims who stand in the queues for lengthy hours typically lose their persistence and attempt to breach the queue.
• Those who efficiently cross the barricades and attain Pathinettam padi outcome in uncontrollable rush at close to the holy steps.
• Due to the lengthy queue from Sannidhanam to Sabaripeedam, the authorities restricted the pilgrims at Pamba. As a outcome, the automobiles for pilgrims are restricted at locations like Erumeli, Pamba, Nilackal and Elavunkal, additional ensuing in lengthy queues of automobiles.
• Even although when there is no heavy visitors on the saranapatha, which is the hill route from Pampa to sannidhanam, the visitors congestion is extreme in paths resulting in Pampa.
• Though it is anticipated that 4,200 folks passing via the holy 18 steps each hour, the precise fee is between 3,800 to three,900 per hour as round 30% of the devotees are aged folks and youngsters.

Why Doesn’t Sabarimala Accommodate Huge Crowds

Sabarimala shrine is positioned in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District in Kerala. The Ayappa temple in Sabarimala is positioned at an altitude of 914 metre and is a lengthy uphill journey on foot although forests and tough terrain.

There are a number of routes to succeed in Sabarimala together with Erumeli route, Vandiperiyar route and the Chalakayam route. While Erumeli is thought of the normal path believed to be the one taken by Ayyappan is additionally the hardest of the lot, requiring a trek of about 61 km via forest and hill tracks.

The best path to the hilltop shrine is by way of Chalakkayam, by which one can attain the banks of the river Pamba by automobile. Pamba is the principle halting level on the way in which to Sabarimala, after which one has to trek 4 to five kms to succeed in the temple.

The hilly terrain and the lengthy trek are the the reason why the gang administration turns into harder activity.