Sabarimala witnessed heavy rush as the flow of pilgrims to the forest shrine continued for the fourth consecutive day on Monday.
The police, who had a tough time controlling the crowd, blocked the pilgrims periodically at Pampa in an effort to regulate their entry into the traditional trekking path leading to the Ayyappa Temple.
The pilgrims were also blocked at different points on the traditional path to ease the pressure at the Sannidhanam.
10 segments
Blocked at 10 segments between Sabaripeedhom and the Sannidhanam, the pilgrims had to wait for four to five hours to reach the temple premises.
Virtual Queue gate
The Virtual Queue gate near the Valiya Nadappanthal at the Sannidhanam was also bursting on the seams on Monday with a large number of pilgrims reaching there after availing themselves of the online registration system for holy darshan.
These pilgrims, too, had to wait for three hours in the queue to reach the temple premises. Volunteers of the Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom and the TDB served medicated drinking water to the pilgrims waiting inside the barricades.
The cleaning work, too, was partly affected due to the unprecedented rush.
