On the back of a steady inflow of pilgrims to the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, the two forest routes to the hill temple from Erumely and Vandiperiyar Sathram have been witnessing an unprecedented rush of devotees early on the annual pilgrimage season.
As per official estimates, just over 15,000 devotees passed through the trekking route from Erumely till Tuesday afternoon-- the highest initial figures to be reported for any season. The number of pilgrims who trekked through the Sathram-Pullumdu route during the same period stood at 6,928.
According to officials, these routes usually become active after the ‘panthrand vilakk’ (twelth day ritual) at Sabarimala. Pilgrims, however, have begun using these routes as soon as the Forest Department announced its opening.
“The number of people opting for the Erumely-Karimala route has recorded a marked rise with each passing day and it will hit the peak during the Makaravilakku season in January. Going by the initial trends, this route is set to surpass its previous record of 3.75 lakh passengers, as reported during the 2017-18 season’’, said B.R. Jayan, Range Forest Officer, Erumely.
Trekking through the Erumely path, which progresses via Peroorthodu, Koyikkakavu, Kalaketty and Azhutha Kadavu, is normally done over two days. The Forest Department has made elaborate arrangements in association with members of the Vana Samrakshana Samithi (VSS) for the camping of pilgrims during nights.
The opening portion of the route from Koyikkakavu temple to Kalaketty falls with the Kottayam Forest division while the remaining portion is part of the Periyar Tiger Reserve (West). Presently, trekking has been restricted with different timings at forest check posts along the route taking into account the safety of the pilgrims.
The authorities, however, are planning to revise the timings in line with a further increase in the number of pilgrims. “The existing set of regulations will exhaust when the inflow touches 2,500 pilgrims per day. At that point of time, we will have to revise the timings as well as the security arrangements accordingly,” said an official.
To ensure the safety of the pilgrims along the Karimala route, which reported instances of wildlife encounters in the previous years, , the Forest Department has deployed as many as 40 forest officers and 80 temporary staff including forest watchers, besides elephant squads. Two rapid response teams (RRTs) from Peermade and Ranni too have been deployed to confront any emergency situation.
