Since the Sabarimala temple has been opened on November 16 for the pilgrimage season, the last two days have witnessed a sharp rise in the number of pilgrims.
The official figures, on Monday, recorded the arrival of 79,098 pilgrims while till 1 pm on Tuesday 40,000 pilgrims have made it to the hilltop shrine(Ayyappa shrine).
This can be attributed to the shift in the venue of Sangh parivar’s protests.
Also, the Congress-led UDF is vehemently opposing the Pinarayi Vijayan government in the Kerala Assembly for its stand on the issue. Vijayan, however, has assured to implement SC’s verdict which revoked the hitherto tradition of not allowing girls and women within 10-50 years from visiting the shrine.
In the previous pilgrimage season, the average number of pilgrims visiting the shrine was around one lakh during the two months.
Although the number of pilgrims has increased in the last two days, yet the pilgrim flow is much less than what the temple town normally witnesses during the festival season.