The State police will not allow any person to encamp in the vicinity of the sanctum at the Sannidhanam in Sabarimala after 10 p.m.
By 1.30 a.m. on Saturday, law enforcers had cleared the high-security zone of all visitors for the first time this Mandalam-Makaravilakku season. Top officers said the practice would continue until the pilgrimage season ends mid-January.
Pilgrims who wanted to make the traditional offering of ghee to the deity had to report to the police at Nilackal before midnight. “We will assume that any pilgrim who reports at Nilackal after 12 midnight does not intend to make the ghee offering,” a senior officer said.
The temple receives the offering only between 3 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. The police will not allow any person to linger in the vicinity of the sanctum after 12.30 p.m. on the pretext of waiting to make the ghee offering the next day. However, they could rest or hang around till the temple closes at 10 p.m.
Law enforcers have asked the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to open additional counters for the sale of appam and aravana, traditional offerings to the deity, at Pampa, 4 km downhill from the Sannidhanam.
The decisions, reportedly reached in accord with the TDB on Saturday, are part of a slew of security measures by the police to prevent turning Sabarimala into a protest zone.
The measures are also aimed at preventing snaking queues, gridlocks and stampedes during peak days.
The police have told the TDB to allocate rooms at the Sannidhanam only to those who reserve them online. Not more than three persons will be allowed to occupy a room. No one will be allowed to hold a room for more than 24 hours. The person who has reserved the room should present an authentic photo identity document at the reception to get the keys.
The police will grant a measure of allowance to the aged, physically challenged, ailing pilgrims and their helpers, and journalists.
State Police Chief (SPC) Loknath Behera held talks with TDB member K.P. Sankaradas to arrive at a via media between the law enforcement’s priority to maintain peace at Sabarimala and need to preserve the time-honoured prerogative of pilgrims to complete time-consuming rituals at the temple.
Behera calls on CM
Mr. Behera also called on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his office in the Secretariat and briefed him on the security situation in the State against the backdrop of the hartal.