India Post is opening a 24-hour booking counter at the Sabarimala shrine in Kerala, allowing pilgrims to conveniently send sacred temple offerings, including the popularavana Payasam, to their homes across the country. (Facebook)

 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India Post is opening a 24-hour booking counter at the Sabarimala shrine in Kerala, allowing pilgrims to conveniently send sacred temple offerings, including the popularavana Payasam, to their homes across the country. The counter is being set up in collaboration with the Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the temple, and will operate throughout the 41-day Mandala pilgrimage season beginning on November 17.

The counter will function alongside the board's existing counters for Aravana Payasam and Appam at the temple complex (Sannidhanam). Devotees will be able to book prasadam on-site and have the parcels delivered to their doorstep via India Post's Speed Post service.

Officials say the packages are expected to reach homes well before the pilgrims themselves return from the pilgrimage. In addition to the shrine counter, people can also arrange for prasadam to be sent from post offices anywhere in the country. The initiative aims to ease the logistical difficulties pilgrims face amid the heavy crowds that typically gather at Sabarimala during the Mandala season.

Travancore Devaswom Board president K. Jayakumar and Kerala Circle Chief Postmaster General Amitabh Singh announced that the special parcel booking center will become operational next week, coinciding with the opening of the Lord Ayyappa temple for the forthcoming season.

Sabarimala, nestled in the Western Ghats of Kerala, is one of India’s most prominent Hindu pilgrimage sites, dedicated to Lord Ayyappa. The Mandala Makaravilakku period draws lakhs of devotees who undertake a rigorous journey to the hilltop shrine.

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