Close on the heels of the gold pilferage at Sabarimala, this year’s pilgrimage season too has been thrown into total disarray by the government and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has said.
He said on Tuesday that the TDB and the government failed to arrange basic facilities for pilgrims and the necessary preparations that needed to be done at Sabarimala much ahead of the pilgrimage.
Mr. Satheesan said the TDB president described the day’s situation in Sabarimala as alarming. Most pilgrims had to stand in queue for 12 to 13 hours for darshan. Several pilgrims had to return disappointed, unable to fulfil their pilgrimage. Many who somehow got darshan were apparently not able to climb the sacred 18 steps.
With absolutely no crowd control system in place, those who finished darshan were stranded at the nadapandal, unable to move out. Even the facilities for drinking water for pilgrims were not arranged. Adequate police personnel and other officials had not been deployed, he said.
Mr. Satheesan said it was laughable that the government was blaming the model code of conduct which came into effect just a week ago for its failure to make adequate pre-pilgrimage preparations at Sabarimala when it should have been done many months ago. It was the same “devious minds” which organised the Global Ayyappa Sangamam with political aims, in the guise of Sabarimala development, who were responsible for making a mess of this season’s pilgrimage.
He said the government and the Devaswom Minister should at least come forward to take up the responsibility for having put lakhs of Ayyappa pilgrims to distress. Former TDB president P.S. Prasanth should be held accountable for the manner in which the pilgrimage had been messed up.
Mr. Satheesan demanded urgent measures for crowd control so that the pilgrimage could be held smoothly. He also urged the High Court’s intervention as the casual attitude of the government towards the conduct of the pilgrimage had resulted in the alarming state of affairs at Sabarimala in the initial days of the pilgrimage itself.
“The scary situation created in Sabarimala is a direct result of the inefficiency of the government, which, along with the Devaswom Board, was busy covering up the gold pilferage and saving the skin of vested interests in Sabarimala,” AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said.
He said the alarming situation in Sabarimala was the outcome of the government’s irresponsible and negligent approach towards the conduct of the pilgrimage as well as the haste to protect those now found responsible for the gold pilferage at Sabarimala.
Published – November 18, 2025 07:09 pm IST
