Hindu Ekya Vedi protests alleging lack of facilities at Sabarimala temple

Thiruvananthapuram: Alleging lack of basic facilities at the Sabarimala temple, Hindu Aikya Vedi on Friday took out a protest march against the Kerala government in front of the central office of the Junta Travancore Devaswom here. The protests that followed a few days later led to an increase in the number of pilgrims, disrupting the crowd management system at the hilltop temple, leaving pilgrims in long queues and waiting for hours to get darshan. However, Kerala Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said the situation at the Lord Ayyappa temple is under control and said the government machinery is diligently intervening in the affairs of the temple. Hindu Ekya Vedi general secretary Sudhakaran said the state government was not providing adequate facilities for pilgrims visiting the Sabarimala temple. Some of them had to return without getting the darshan. KSRTC buses charge fares 35 per cent more than the normal price”, Sudhakaran said. Meanwhile, on Friday, the chamber of the Superior Tribunal of Kerala, which heard a case related to prisons and crowding at Sabarimala, issued a series of directions for crowd control at the hill sanctuary during the Mandalam season. -Makaravilakku. The tribunal has ordered the executive magistrate to guarantee that the price list and cleanliness of the hotels in Erumeli are correct. He has also ordered the Panchayat Secretary to ensure that extra fees are not charged at parking spots and land owners operating without licenses under Erumeli Gram Panchayat should be informed. The Division Tribunal said that the Secretary of the Superior Tribunal had received 300 queries regarding inconveniences at Sabarimala. The Devaswom’s tribunal also ordered that the pilgrims should get facilities as per the judicial order. However, the government has responded that the pilgrims are trying to show that there are problems in managing crowds at Sabarimala. After a few days of influx of repentant pilgrims, the situation at Sabarimala became clear due to poor management. The hill temple is usually visited by a large number of people during the Mandalam-Makaravilakku season, which began on November 17 this year. After the incident, opposition parties including BJP and Congress have attacked the Kerala government. Meanwhile, to cater to the additional influx of passengers during the current Sabarimala season, Southern Railway will operate a special train Vande Bharat Sabari between Chennai Central and Kottayam.