Kerala: Police accuse Devaswom Board of virtual queue booking failure at Sabarimala
The Devaswom Board assumed control of virtual queue bookings at Sabarimala a year ago. However, the police find an error in managing the bookings which is leading to a huge rush at the shrine.
FollowPathanamthitta: The Sabarimala virtual queuing system had an error, according to the police. The Devaswom Board has been accepting reservations for virtual queues without imposing any limits in recent days, which has caused great concern to the police. A year ago, the police managed the virtual queue; starting in March 2022, the Devaswom Board assumed control of it.
Since last year, the Devaswom Board has reclaimed management of the virtual queue from the police. Since the outset, the police have also voiced their severe displeasure with this. The police claim that the Devaswom Board, which had granted so many slots in the last round, had once again exacerbated the situation by acting without forethought. Punyam Poonkavanam was one of the several police-related projects in Sabarimala that the Devaswom Board had taken over.
Many devotees arrive through spot booking in addition to the virtual queue. From the Kananapatha, a lot of people travel to Sannidhanam as well. The number of pilgrims exceeded one lakh just yesterday. The current worry is whether or not devotees who travel great distances to reach the hill shrine will receive darshan following Mandala Puja. However, the Devaswom Board claims to guarantee darshan for every devotee.
The Sabarimala temple witnessed a record number of devotees on Sunday (Dec 24), which could be the huge rush in the last 10 days. The temple recorded a footfall of 1,00,969 devotees who reached the shrine to take the darshan of Lord Ayyappa. As many as 5,798 people arrived through the Pullumedu-Kananapatha alone.
