Despite Rains In Kerala, Devotees Trek Sabarimala To Offer Prayers
NDTV
Like the previous year, the devotees were being permitted through a virtual queue system this time also as part of efforts to regulate the flow of pilgrims in view of the pandemic and heavy rains.
Braving inclement weather conditions and Covid situation, hundreds of devotees on Tuesday trekked the holy Sabarimala to offer prayers at the famed Lord Ayyappa Temple in Pathanamthitta, marking the beginning of the two-month-long annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season.
As "melsanthi" (chief priest) N Parameswaran Namboothiri lit the traditional lamp in the sanctum sanctorum after opening the temple portals early this morning, the devotees were allowed to trek the hills from the foothills.
Like the previous year, the devotees were being permitted through a virtual queue system this time also as part of efforts to regulate the flow of pilgrims in view of the pandemic and heavy rains.
Though the "Sannidhanam", the temple complex used to witness a sea of devotees on the first day of the Malayalam month of Vrichikam, comparatively less number of devotees could be spotted this morning.
