Protestors outside the Thiruvananthapuram secretariat were dispersed by the police.
Sabarimala saw a rush of devotees post-Chennai flood and Telengana elections, said Travancore Devaswom board secretary. “Even after reducing the number of virtual Q tickets, people visited the temple without registering,” he said. Virtual Q ticket is an online ticket service provided by Kerala Police in association with Travancore Devaswom Board.
A protest was held in front of the Secretariat at Thiruvananthapuram, against the state government today. “Most of the protestors were holding a Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) flag. They were trying to pull the barricades and then the police dispersed the crowd by using water canons,” said Girish, a resident of Trivandrum.
Ajay Kumar, a medical shop owner near the Secretariat said that the protestors left after the speech of Valsan Thillankeri, State working president of Hindu Aikya Vedi.
In another event held by Hindu Janajagruti Samithi at Bangalore Press club today, N. Jayaram, President of Ayyappa Seva Samajam said that the recent chaos in Sabarimala is due to the mismanagement by secular government in Kerala. “The current Kerala Government is anti-Hindu. Temple management should be given to Sanatana dharma followers, and not to atheists,” he said.
Aswin, a devotee from Kollam district of Kerala, who visited the temple last week said, “The rush was more as compared to my previous visits. Drinking water was available on the way to the temple .”
However, Subhash, a resident of Kannur said that the crowd was not that huge when he visited and that he had to deal with larger crowds in the past. “The number of devotees during Makaravilakku is much more than the crowd during normal time. One day an old devotee fell on me at Pathinettam Padi,” he said.
He said that after the ban of bottled water, people find it difficult to get drinking water.
Devaswom Board Secretary said that the board is doing all the duties it is supposed to do. “We are providing water and annadanam (free food) 24 hours. Parking facility is provided for 7,000 vehicles.”
People posted on X (formerly twitter). Many shared their concern over the increased crowd and lack of facilities.
According to The Hindu, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accused opposition UDF for turning the Sabarimala issue as a political weapon, after the UDF staged a public protest in Parliament today.
V K Prasanth, Vattiyurkavu Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) said that the current protest is unnecessary. “More people come to Sabarimala now, compared to previous years. It is a conscious attempt by BJP to use the current situation to deliberately create a conflict,” he said.
Anupama VM and Arya S Biju contributed to this story.
