Sabarimala footfall down drastically, so is revenue

SANNIDHANAM: A week into the annual Mandalam season, there has been a huge dip in the revenue generated from Sabarimala following massive reduction in footfall due to the ongoing row over the Supreme Court’s verdict on women’s entry.


Sources said 80,000 to 1 lakh pilgrims visited the shrine daily during the main pilgrimage season last year. However, the footfall this year from November 16th evening, when the temple opened for the season, to Thursday afternoon was just 1.5 lakh.

Sources said there was a 33% dip in the revenue generated through offerings at hundis (offering box). “The crowd at Sabarimala has always been unpredictable and we hope that footfall will increase in the coming days,” said commissioner of Travancore Devaswom Board N Vasu. The board said over 6 crore devotees visited the temple last year, generating a revenue of Rs 255 crore.

There’s also a huge dip in offerings. “Devotees from other states bring half a kilo of rice in their ‘irumudikettu’ (offering for Lord Ayyappa). The rice is machine-sorted and auctioned or used for ‘vazhipadu’ (rituals). This year, rice deposits have fallen,” said a TDB employee. Over a dozen rice offering centres at Sannidhanam where at least one truckful was collected daily from each counter last year — were collecting just a few sacks each day during the past week.

Another important source of revenue is auctioning space to vendors. Almost 40% of space, which in previous years would be sold quickly after a bidding war, is yet to be auctioned. “Auctions are still going on and TDB has brought down the rates by 35%,” said a vendor.

Revenue generation through appam and aravana sale is yet to gain momentum as TDB had to cut production of appam, owing to the fall in demand. TDB is also battling with food and accommodation requirements thanks to additional police deployment at Sabarimala. Compared to overall deployment of 2,000 policemen last year, nearly 4,000 have been deployed.