The Sabarimala Sannidhanam witnessed moderate rush on Saturday morning owing to the state-wide hartal affecting pilgrim’s passafe to the hill shrine.
The 41-day Mandalam pilgrimage season began with the Tantri, Kandararu Rajeevararu, performing the Ashtadravya Maha Ganapati Homom in the morning. The new Melsanthi, V.N.Vasudevan Namboodiri, opened the sanctum sanctorum.
Pilgrims, carrying ghee for Neyyabhishekom offering to the deity, lined up in queues leading to the temple sopanam.
Restrictions cause hardship
The restrictions on pilgrim movement created hardships to the pilgrims. Hundreds of pilgrims were left to lay on the wayside and and on the verandah of shops as the Travancore Devaswom Board denied accomodation facility to them on the directions of the Police.
Ironically, the police cites security reasons for the denial of rooms and shelters to the pilgrims on the Mandalam eve, disregarding their travails at Nilackal and Pampa before reaching the forest shrine on Friday night.
Many pilgrims were forced to leave Sannidhanam with out offering the Neyyabhishekom and other offerings to the deity as the police disallowed them to halt at the holy hillock after closure of the temple at 10 pm.
For the first time in the history of Sabarimala, police used lathis for regulating Ayyappa devotees.
The day-long hartal called by the Sabarimala Action Council and the Hindu Aikyavedi, protesting against the arrest of their leaders, K.P.Sasikala, Prithvipal, and Bhargavaram on Friday night, too started affecting the pilgrim flow to Sabarimala on Saturday.
