Guwahati: Over one lakh worshippers flocked to the Sabrimala Temple in Kerala as it experienced record bookings on Monday.
As many as 1,07,260 devotees reportedly reserved darshan times for today, and given the enormous football, extensive security precautions were prepared.
Sabrimala Special Officer Harishchandra Naik said, “Devotees will be escorted from Pampa to Sannidhanam in a controlled and segmented manner. Police officers have been deployed at each point for this purpose. The segment rotation is a precautionary measure to avoid any untoward incident due to the crowding of devotees. Devotees waiting in the queue will be provided light food and drinking water. Apart from the police, the services of RAF and NDRF personnel will also be used to control the traffic.”
The timing for the darshan was also extended by an hour because of the voluminous foot traffic.
Moreover, between 77,216 and 64,617 devotees made online reservations for the temple darshan on December 13 and 14, respectively.
About 60,000 people visited Sabarimala till 5 pm on Saturday.
The states Devaswom Department Minister K Radhakrishnan said, “2,61,874 pilgrims have visited Sabarimala in the first six days of this pilgrim season. There are indications that the number of devotees will increase in the coming days.”
It should be noted that the Sabrimala Lord Ayappa Temple welcomed worshippers on November 17 in preparation for the Mandalam-Makaravilakku festivities.