Thiruvananthapuram: Considering requests from devotees from various parts of the country, the Kerala government may soon approve an upward revision in the daily number of pilgrims allowed to the Ayyappa temple on Sabarimala.
Sources said the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) had forwarded a recommendation to this effect to the government. A final decision would have to come as a collective decision of the agencies involved.
The annual two-month-long pilgrimage to the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Kerala’s Sabarimala started Monday amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Though the Sabarimala temple was opened on Sunday for the annual pilgrimage season, devotees were only allowed to enter the temple Monday morning with strict Covid-prevention measures in place.
The newly elected Sabarimala head priest VK Jayaraj Potti and Malikkapuram head priest M N Raj Kumar also climbed the holy 18 steps of the temple dedicated to Lord Ayyappa to offer prayers. Devotees are being allowed inside the temple from Monday.