Till April 14, Sabarimala was synonymous to pack of devotees who jostled with one another to offer prayers at the Ayyappa temple there.

When open, the entire grove of Sabarimala situated in the Periyar Tiger Reserve used to be buzzing with ‘Swami Saranam’ chants by the scores of devotees undertaking pilgrimage to the forest shrine.

But, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed this situation, at times beyond comprehension. After conclusion of monthly rituals on April 14, the Travancore Devaswom Board closed the shrine for pilgrims in accordance with the lockdown norms that required places of worship as well to not allow public gatherings.

Now, entire Sabarimala Sannidhanam bears a near-deserted look. The otherwise-crowded temple sopanam where devotees used to impatiently jostle to have the darshan of the deity remain empty even during time when main rituals are held.

During the lockdown, the temple opens at 5 a.m. and closes after completing Ganapati homom, abhishekom, ushapuja and utchapuja at 10 a.m. In the afternoon, the temple opens at 5 p.m. and closes after the deeparadhana and Athazhapuja at 7.30 p.m.

For this month, the Tantri (chief priest), Kandararu Maheswararu Mohanararu, and the Melsanthi (head priest), A.K. Sudheer Namboodiri, performed the routine rituals on all the five days.

Devaswom executive officer Rajendraprasad told The Hindu that a maximum of five temple staff were permitted to stand at the sopanam during the puja period. Not even the workers at various construction sites at Sabarimala are permitted to have the darshan of the presiding deity.

“Now, the deity is clearly visible even from the foot of the holy temple mast. The Vishu festival was not celebrated in April and the 10-day annual temple has also been deferred this year owing to the lockdown. This has left scores of Ayyappa devotees dejected and not to speak of the subsequent huge revenue loss to TDB,” says Sunilkumar, TDB assistant engineer at Sabarimala.

Online Vazhipadu

Mr Rajendraprasad said TDB received orders worth nearly ₹1 lakh online from devotees across the world for performing various offerings (vazhpiadu) to the deity during the monthly puja. He said the board had announced online bookings for 11 offerings like pushparchanas, ghee lamp, Ganapati homom, Bhagavathy seva, etc. The board’s revenue collection by way of online vazhipadu bookings was around ₹2 lakh during the past two monthly puja period in April and May, he said.

However, the TDB had to pay not less than ₹3.5 lakh a month towards energy cost alone to the Kerala State Electricity Board during the off-season and ₹1.5 crore a month during the annual pilgrimage season, he said.

Temple closed

The five-day monthly rituals at Sabarimala in the Malayalam month of Edavom came to a close on Tuesday and the temple will be opened again on May 31 afternoon for the idol installation anniversary that falls on the next day.