Vyapa Reddy, a senior citizen, can not believe his tough luck.
Having come all the way from Kadappa in Coastal Andhra Pradesh, this hardcore devotee of Lord Ayyappa remains stranded at Pampa at the foothills of Sabarimala since Thursday afternoon. Forced to spend several hours on the slush-filled steps leading to the Pampa Ganapathi Temple since Thursday midnight, this 61-year-old is yet to recover from the rude shock of being woken up from a deep sleep and evicted from the Anjaneya Auditorium here in the wee hours of Friday, citing security reasons.
Deprived of food, drinking water and other basic facilities, Mr. Reddy along with his 200-odd group of pilgrims are at a loss as to when they will be permitted to trek up the hill and have darshan of Ayyappa. Braving the incessant downpour in the forests right from the morning, they are now left at the mercy of the police.
According to Mr. Reddy, they managed to reach Pampa after undergoing a similar odeal during their day-long wait at Nilackal base camp. “I have been undertaking the pilgrimage to Sabarimala for the past 15 years on a trot. But it never has been so thorny like this, quite literally,” he says.
His fellow pilgrims, Sunil, Suresh, Channa Rao, all have to narrate a similar harrowing story on the hardships associated with the Sabarimala pilgrimage this season. All of them have registered their names on the Kerala Police’s digital crowd management website so as to ensure their presence at Sannidhanam by the time the temple opens for the annual pilgrimage.
Though they were assigned a darshan time of 6 p.m on Friday, uncertainty now looms large over their onward journey from the foothills even by the evening.
The flood-ravaged Pampa is bereft of basic pilgrim facilities. The low water-level coupled with the damaged bathing ghats has made even the customary holy dip a tough task.
Adding to the woes of the stranded pilgrims, an uneasy calm prevails in Sabarimala and surrounding areas over the purported visit of women in the restricted age group.
As the heavy downpour refuse to retreat, things are in for a worse turn here. With the police taking control of the entire Sabarimala region, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) officials too are feigning helplessness in addressing the crisis situation evolving at Pampa. “Too many cooks spoil the broth. We have been trying our level best to ensure every possible pilgrim facility at Pampa and Nilackal base camp. But the unprecedented police intervention and adverse climate have been upsetting our plans,” said a senior TDB official.
