The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department has introduced a 24-hour helpline, 1800-425-1757, for devotees proceeding to Sabarimala from the State.
The number will provide information about online booking of slots, routes to take and safety measures being taken at the temple, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Official sources said that the number will function till January 20, 2021, the last date of darshan for this season.
Temples along popular routes including Thirumalai Kumaraswamy temple at Senkottai, Kowmariamman temple in Theni district and Nandini Temple near Walayar will provide similar information and basic facilities like safe drinking water and restrooms for devotees.
Meanwhile, on Monday, which was the first day of the Tamil month of Karthigai, thousands of devotees adorned the malai at various Ayyappa temples in the State and took the vow to visit the mountain shrine.
K. Pradeep, trustee, North Madras Sri Ayyappan Temple, said that around 2,000 devotees had come in batches on Monday. “We usually have around 5,000 people coming in on day one but due to the pandemic, the numbers were fewer. People above the age of 60 and children below 10 years kept away. Similarly, the number of women too was very low,” he said.
Due to restrictions imposed to ensure the safety of devotees, many were apprehensive about what the visit would be like. S. Thulasiraman from Koyambedu, who goes with a group of 10 persons, said they had booked the darshan slot for December 4 and that they planned to fly from Chennai the previous evening after obtaining the COVID-19 negative certificate.
“We usually go by train or road. But since we have to produce a COVID-19 free certificate obtained within 24 hours of darshan, we are flying. There is no place to stay this year. We may also not get food. But we are happy that we are able to go. For the past 17 years we have been going every month without fail. The pandemic put an end to that in March this year,” he said.
