Not Advisable To Allow Sabarimala Pilgrimage Now, Says Devotee Organisation, Citing These Reasons

The society of Ayyappa devotees believes the move open Sabarimala Temple for devotees during the Mandala-Makara vilakku season only will benefit the wealthy class and will also aggravate the coronavirus situation in the state.

Indian devotees walk to vist Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala in the southern state of Kerala. FILE PIC/AFP.

Pathanamthitta: An organisation that represents devotees of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity of the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala, has come down strongly on the move by the Government and temple authorities to open the temple for darshan during the upcoming Mandala-Makara Vilakku season. Citing various reasons, the Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam in a press release says though the authorities have stipulated several riders, the move to open the temple is not appropriate and is tilted in favour of the wealthy devotees. To begin with, registration in the Virtual-Q system for darshan will be restricted to those producing a Covid-19 negative certificate. The testing for Covid-19 and the procurement of the negative certificate is an expensive affair that could cost up to Rs 5,000/- putting the poor devotees at a disadvantage vis-a-vis the rich. This goes against the basic tenets of the pilgrimage which stands for equality of all devotees in front of the Lord where there is no distinction between the haves and the have-nots, irrespective of creed, etc. In fact, all the rituals involved in the pilgrimage are aimed at fostering the concept of togetherness. The rituals include wearing of the divine garland, the daily bath, darshan at the local temple, the bhajans, preparation of Irumudi and the travel to Sabarimala in which the rich and the poor without distinction of class or creed join in a spirit of brotherhood and togetherness. Given the social distancing protocol to be followed during the pandemic the cost of the journey including the Covid-19 testing, travel from say, Hyderabad to Sabarimala could be about Rs 15,000/- which the poor cannot afford, more so in the absence of train services. In addition most of the devotees come from the southern states which account for a big chunk of Covid-19 infections and could pose serious health concerns. Obtaining e-passes for inter-state travel and the mandatory quarantine of people moving between states would also cause great hardship to the pilgrims. It is also not clear if the authorities would provide the facilities for bathing, toilet, food and other necessities. Listing all these difficulties the organisation says a decision on opening the temple should be taken at a later date when the virus is in retreat and conditions for movement of people in large numbers are better. Making a suggestion that to reduce the number of devotees, the total 56 active days of the season may be divided as 4 days (one day in one term for a district) to each of the 14 districts in Kerala, the organization says it may be possible to follow strict restrictions thus avoiding the chances of covid-19 spread. The authorities would do well to take an appropriate decision at a future date as otherwise, permitting the movement of devotees in large numbers would pose serious health hazards, cause needless hardship and endanger the lives of devotees and cause a further spread of the virus, says the press release.