The Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom (ABASS) has called upon the Kerala government to take immediate steps to repair the roads leading to Sabarimala.
In a statement issued here on Monday, ABASS vice-president D. Vijayakumar said a majority of the roads leading to Sabarimala were in a bad shape. With hardly two months left for the beginning of theannual Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival, the government was yet to take any effective step for the repair and maintenance of these roads, he alleged.
It had been a regular practice with the PWD to start Sabarimala road repair work at the eleventh hour,leaving room for malpractices, he said.
The ABASS leader also called for the setting up of a separate PWD roads division for Sabarimala works in the larger interests of lakhs of Ayyappa devotees coming to Sabarimala from different parts of the country.
It is estimated that as many as double the population of Kerala visit Sabarimala during the two month-long annual pilgrim season and the government was bound to provide better basic facilities to them, he added.
The ABASS has also strongly condemned the recent hike in the rates of various offerings (vazhipadu) at the Lord Ayyappa temple. This had put a majority of the devotees in utter dismay, making the rituals a prerogative of the rich people.
The Ganapati homam now costs Rs.301 up from Rs.61; Ashtabhishekom Rs.3,401 (Rs.750); Kalabhabhishekom Rs. 25,000 (Rs.1,001) and Sahasrakalasabhishekom Rs.1.15 lakh.
The ABASS leader said the TDB should withdraw the steep hike in the Vazhipadu rates immediately.
