Pilgrims waiting to climb the holy steps of the Sabrimala Ayyappa Temple on Wednesday. | Photo credit: LEJU KAMAL
The Kerala High Court on Wednesday slammed the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) for shoddy crowd management at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, attributing it to poor coordination by board officials.
Expressing concern over the thousands of pilgrims stranded due to overcrowding and inadequate arrangements, the court asked why preparations for the Mandalam-Makaravilakku season were not started at least six months in advance, despite knowing that there would be a huge influx of devotees during the two-month season.
The court observed that simply searching the pilgrims and pushing them forward without considering the capacity of the hill temple was a wrong approach. He further directed the TDB to clarify the maximum number of pilgrims that could be accommodated in the temple at any one time and also seek detailed capacity figures for each sector. Pilgrims could thus be divided into sectors to regulate the crowd, the court said.
Taking into account the restrictions in the temple premises, the court said that only a controlled number of pilgrims should be allowed to enter, commensurate with the availability of space and also security protocols. The court also asked why the directions it had issued earlier were not followed and directed the TDB to quickly introduce scientific measures to manage the crowd.
Newly appointed TDB president K. Jayakumar also shared the court’s concerns and said arrangements should have been made at least six months in advance.
About two million pilgrims, including children, were reported to have thronged Sabarimala within 48 hours of the temple opening. There were complaints that many of them did not even get drinking water.
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A division bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice KV Jayakumar sought reports from the Sabarimala coordinator detailing the available space in the temple and the load-bearing capacity of various zones. Currently, 90,000 devotees are allowed daily, including 70,000 virtual queue reservations and 20,000 direct reservations.
The Sannidhanam, where more than 50 thousand devotees congregate annually, is located in the ecologically fragile Periyar Tiger Reserve, where forest conservation is paramount and of utmost importance. In such an environment, pilgrimage management should be approached as a scientific, professional and year-round planning endeavour. An institutional, expert-led and future-ready system is required, rather than ad hoc responses triggered only when the situation becomes unmanageable. Thus, TDB should conduct a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary planning exercise with the help of experts serving the state government before the start of the next Mandalam-Makaravilakku season, the court said.
‘Measures in place’
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr. Jayakumar told The Hindu that measures were being put in place to regulate the movement of devotees to the Sannidhanam to prevent crowding at any place.
“Between Saramkuthi and Marakoottam, there are 18 front complexes complete with toilets which have remained unused. Together they can accommodate about 10,000 devotees who could have refreshments, water and rest in these halls to save them from exhaustion. I have issued instructions to clean these complexes and they should be usable in a day or two,” he added.
Meanwhile, a 30-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) contingent from Thrissur has joined the duty near Sopanam and the nadapandal (covered path) at Sannidhanam. Another contingent of 38 members is expected to arrive overnight. The NDRF team is trained and equipped to respond to medical emergencies and other emergencies.
Additional Director General of Police S Sreejith, chief police coordinator at Sabarimala, said that no one who arrived with a virtual pass in the queue would have to return without darshan at the temple.
Published – 19 Nov 2025 20:04 IST
