Hindu Aikya Vedi stages protest alleging lack of facilities at Sabarimala temple

The protests came days after a surge in pilgrims strained the crowd management system in the hill temple, causing long queues and several hours of waiting for the pilgrims to get the Darshan.

Thiruvananthapuram: Alleging a lack of basic facilities in Sabarimala temple, Hindu Aikya Vedi held a protest march against the Kerala government on Friday in front of the Travancore Devaswom Board head office here.

The protests came days after a surge in pilgrims strained the crowd management system in the hill temple, causing long queues and several hours of waiting for the pilgrims to get the Darshan.

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However, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday that the situation at the Lord Ayyappa temple was under control and asserted that the government machinery was intervening diligently in temple matters.

The Hindu Aikya Vedi General Secretary Sudhakaran said that the state government was not providing proper facilities for pilgrims visiting the Sabarimala temple.

“The government has failed even to provide enough drinking water for the pilgrims in the Sabarimala temple. Many pilgrims have been able to get the Dharshan after many hours of waiting. Some of them had to return without having a darshan. KSRTC buses are charging 35 percent more than the normal price,” Sudhakaran said.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the division bench of the Kerala High Court, hearing a suo moto case related to the rush and crowd in Sabarimala, issued a slew of directions for crowd control at the hill shrine during the Mandalam-Makaravilakku season.

The court has directed the Executive Magistrate to ensure that the price list and cleanliness of the hotels in Erumeli are correct.

It has also directed the Panchayat Secretary to ensure that no additional fees are charged to parking grounds and notice should be given to grounds operating without a license under the Erumeli Gram Panchayat.

The division bench stated that the High Court Registrar had received 300 complaints regarding the inconveniences at Sabarimala. The Devaswom bench also directed that the pilgrims should be given facilities as per the court order.

However, the government has replied that the pilgrims are trying to portray that there are problems with crowd management in Sabarimala.

A mismanagement-related situation erupted at Sabarimala following the sudden surge of pilgrims a few days ago. The hill shrine generally witnesses a heavy rush during the Mandalam-Makaravilakku season, which began on November 17 this year.

After the incident, the Kerala government has come under attack by opposition parties, including the BJP and Congress.

Meanwhile, the Southern Railway will operate a Vande Bharat Sabari special train between Chennai Central and Kottayam to cater to the extra rush of passengers during the ongoing Sabarimala season.