The Advocate Commissioner appointed by the Kerala High Court on the land issues between the Travancore Devaswom Board and the Forest Department has sought a directive to the police to reconsider the restrictions imposed on the entry of vehicles from Nilackal to Pampa in the wake of the protests against the entry of women to Sabarimala.
In a report submitted to the Kerala High Court, Advocate Commissioner A.S.P. Kurup also sought a directive to the police to allow devotees to ascend the hill from Pampa to the Sannidhanam from 6 a.m. on the days when the shrine opened at 5 p.m. for monthly pujas and other special pujas.
He pointed out that the devotees were now allowed to climb the hill only after 12 noon. As a result, the faithful were detained at Pampa by the police till then.
Climbing the hill during noon when the sun reached its highest point was a difficult task. The action of the police was extremely cruel. It had long been a practice to allow devotees to climb the hill from early morning.
The devotees could have peaceful darsan when the shrine opened at 5 a.m. if they were allowed to climb the hill early morning. Besides, there was no reason to stop devotees at Nilackal. In fact, all the parking areas except a small potion at the hill top were now in good condition. The commissioner pleaded for a directive to the TDB to make use of the car parking areas at Thriveni and Chakkapalam and the hill top.
He also sought a directive to the TDB to maintain the parking areas properly so that it could be used for the benefit of devotees as they were given by the government for vehicle parking.