On Wednesday, a group of devotees who had earlier failed to have a darshan at Sabarimala because of the large number of people received a second opportunity courtesy of the timely act of the police. Known as the 17-member, which comprised of old women and children of Kallambalam had no option but to come back without paying visit to the shrine during the annual Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season due to the heavy rush.
ADGP S Sreejith, who is the police coordinator at Sabarimala, acted in time after the media outlets showed pictures of the group who could not fulfil their pilgrimage. After the group had been contacted, he himself dialed one of the elderly women in the group and assured them of being covered by the police to safely return to the temple and finish their darshan. Through this help, the pilgrims took another step up the holy hills and managed to pray to Lord Ayyappa. Two children, a boy, and a girl, had come to Sabarimala, and this was the first time they were there.
One of the pilgrims expressed her thanks by saying, we never thought that we would see Lord Ayyappa and be able to pray to him this time. Only under the intervention of the Lord did we manage to return here. In a reply to her, ADGP Sreejith pointed out that one should be grateful to Lord Ayyappa. He further promised that pilgrims who had virtual queue passes would not abandon Sabarimala without darshan and this was a strong show on the part of police to ensure that the crowds were handled well.
The necessity of such measures was occasioned by the fact that in 48 hours after the opening of the temple to pilgrimage season, almost two lakh devotees had arrived at the shrine. The huge number of pilgrims put both Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and the police in logistical difficulties, particularly on the small road between Pamba and the Sannidhanam. Sight on TV depicted crowds of believers crowded closely around the 18 holy steps, spending hours to get to the shrine.
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