Special passes for Sabarimala pilgrims taking forest route temporarily halted

Sabarimala (Kerala), Jan 1 (PTI) The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has announced the temporary suspension of issuing special passes for Sabarimala devotees arriving on foot via the forest route.

This decision was taken to prevent prolonged waiting times for darshan among devotees arriving through Pamba using the virtual queue system and spot booking, Devaswom Board member A Ajikumar said in a release here.

Previously, arrangements were in place to issue special passes for 5,000 devotees walking through the forest route.

However, the number of devotees arriving via the forest route has increased fivefold.

In light of this, restrictions have been imposed on issuing special passes.

The board has decided not to issue special passes until further notice, the release stated.

The exclusive darshan arrangements for pilgrims trekking through the traditional forest paths were introduced last month.

Such pilgrims were provided with special tags issued by the Forest department, granting privileges, including a separate queue for darshan.

The Lord Ayyappa temple reopened on December 30 for the Makaravilakku festival on January 14. PTI