TDB Decides To Allow More Devotees To Visit Sabarimala

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) , December 2: With an increasing number of devotees enquiring to visit the shrine, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has decided to allow more devotees to visit Sabarimala Temple through the queue booking, which is set to start from Wednesday.

The number of pilgrims at Sabarimala has doubled via virtual queue bookings which include devotees from out of the state wanting darshan at the temple.

According to the officials, from Monday to Friday, the limit of pilgrims has been increased from 1,000 to 2,000. Whereas on weekends, the number has been increased from 2,000 to 3,000.
Prior to this, the temple board had urged the government to increase the number of devotees.

A week ago, TDB had written to the Kerala Government demanding to increase the number of devotees allowed to visit the temple per day. According to TDB, the Temple premises can accommodate about 10,000 pilgrims for darshan while maintaining social distancing.

However, all necessary covid precautions and protocols will be in place for the temple visit. It will be mandatory for devotees to carry coronavirus negative certificates taken 24 hours before. The devotees will be allowed darshan but will not be allowed to stay at the temple.

The Lord Ayyappa temple was opened for the annual pilgrimage season from November 16 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Union Health Ministry, there are 62,025 active COVID-19 cases in the state.

(with inputs from ANI)