As over 40% of Sabarimala pilgrims are from Tamil Nadu, State Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar has suggested having a member representing Tamil Nadu on the Travancore Devasom Board.
He was speaking at a conference of southern States pertaining to the preparation for the 2017 Sabarimala season. He said that Ayyappa devotees from Tamil Nadu scrupulously follow the restrictions imposed in Sabarimala by the Kerala Government to protect and preserve the environment.
“Forty per cent of the devotees are from T.N. For effective cooperation and smooth facilitation, a member representing Tamil Nadu, proposed by the Government of Tamil Nadu, may be appointed in the Travancore Devasom Board,” he said.
The Minister added that the T.N. government had made a request to the Kerala government to provide all possible basic amenities to the devotees from Tamil Nadu. “I am happy to know that the Government of Kerala had agreed to provide five acres of land for the benefit of devotees from Tamil Nadu,” he said. He added that reciprocating the Kerala government’s gesture, the Tamil Nadu government has also consented to allot five acres of land at Palani for the benefit of pilgrims from Kerala.
The Minister said an exclusive information centre is functioning at the Headquarters of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department for the benefit of Ayyappa devotees every year. “Considering the effective utilisation of the information centre by the devotees, exclusive information centres will be established in addition to the existing ones in other districts this year,” he said.
