T’puram: The pandemic has affected the revenue of Travancore Devaswom Board during Makaravilakku festival season. Sabarimala temple recorded a revenue of Rs 21 crore this season compared to Rs 269 crore last year.
TDB president N Vasu said though there was severe financial crisis, the Mandala-Makaravilakku festival was organized without hitches. He added that revenue from Sabarimala had stopped since March as the temple was closed due to Covid protocols.
Though government had provided financial support (Rs 20 crore) to TDB for the smooth conduct of festival, it was not sufficient. Hence, TDB has asked the government for more financial assistance, he said.
TDB had sought government support as it was facing difficulty in even providing salaries and pensions of devaswom employees. Earlier, Rs 30 crore was given to the board before the festival season. Vasu said 1,250 temples under the board are totally depended on the revenue from Sabarimala. Hence, the functioning of all these temples have been hit due to the financial crisis.
As per Covid protocols, there were restrictions on devotees entering the hill shrine during Mandala-Makaravilakku festival. At first, only 1,000 people were allowed to enter the temple on weekdays and 2,000 on weekends. During festival days, 5,000 devotees were allowed to enter the temple.
However, under pressure from TDB this was later made 2,000 people on weekdays and 3,000 on weekends. Later, under the directive from high court 5,000 devotees were allowed on all days. But still TDB didn’t receive the benefit in terms of revenue as only 40% of the people who had booked through virtual queue reached the temple each day.