Sabarimala temple reopens for five-day monthly prayers, no devotees allowed

The five-day monthly puja at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala will start on Monday morning and will be held without the presence of devotees. The Sabarimala temple on Sunday reopened for prayers in the Malayalam month, which is known as Chingam. The temple will close on August 21 evening after monthly puja.

Earlier, Travancore Devaswam president N Vasu said the annual festival pilgrimage season for Sabarimala starts from November 16.

"This is an event which has been going on for decades. The government, as well as the Travancore Devaswam board, is eager to see that the event takes place this year also but with limitations and restrictions," he said.

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Covid-19 negative certificate mandatory

Devotees to the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala will have to carry COVID-19 negative certificates for darshan when the temple opens for the over two-month-long pilgrim season from November 16.

They will be allowed entry only through a virtual queue system.

The decisions in this regard were taken at a high-level online meeting chaired by Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran on August 10 to assess various arrangements before the start of the festival, which will be held strictly on the basis of COVID-19 protocols. The Travancore Devaswam president was also present at the meeting.

It was decided in the meeting that very few pilgrims will be allowed for darshan this year in the light of the pandemic and the COVID-19 protocol would be strictly followed. The meeting observed that the pilgrim season this time has thrown up a big challenge in the backdrop of the pandemic.

(With inputs from agencies, Representative Photo: PTI) 

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