Sabarimala Imposes Entry Limits And New Crowd Controls After Massive Pilgrim Rush

After an overwhelming influx of around two lakh pilgrims created severe congestion at Sabarimala, the Travancore Devaswom Board and police have enforced new restrictions from Wednesday to better manage the flow of devotees during the Mandala–Makaravilakku season.

Authorities capped real-time (spot) darshan bookings at 20,000 per day and limited overall daily entry to one lakh pilgrims. Seven new counters will operate at Nilakkal to prevent crowds from hurrying to Pamba in search of tickets. Devotees arriving in large groups will be shifted to the next day’s darshan, with overnight arrangements provided at Nilakkal.

Queue complexes on the Marakkoottam–Saramkuthi–Sannidhanam route are being fully readied with drinking water, light meals, and chukku coffee. Officials assured that devotees entering these complexes will maintain their place in the queue. Additional staff, along with 200 cleaning workers from Tamil Nadu, have been deployed to handle sanitation, water distribution and crowd regulation. Passenger movement from Nilakkal to Pampa will also be controlled to ensure timely darshan and return.

TDB president K Jayakumar attributed the rush to people jumping queues and many virtual-Q holders arriving on dates different from their bookings. ADGP S Sreejith said police were compelled to allow over 37,000 spot bookings on Tuesday, far above the intended cap, because many devotees demanded same-day entry.

Opposition leaders attacked the state government, accusing it of poor crowd planning and failure to provide essential amenities like drinking water and adequate police strength. They argued that arrangements should have been finalised before the model code of conduct began, with Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan calling for the Kerala High Court’s immediate involvement.

Amid the heavy rush, a 58-year-old woman from Koyilandy died after collapsing in the queue. The TDB will transport her body home. In another incident, a bus carrying 33 Karnataka pilgrims overturned near Erumely, injuring three passengers who were later discharged.