Kochi: The violence and agitation over the entry of young women in Sabarimala temple have not reduced the number of devotees visiting the temple in the first 40 days of the ongoing Mandala season even as the income has fallen by Rs 55 crore.
Travancore Devaswom Board president A. Padmakumar told reporters at Pampa on Wednesday, a day before the end of the Mandalam season on Thursday that total of 32 lakh devotees had visited the temple on the first 40 days of the current season while the income totalled Rs 105.11 crore as against Rs 160.03 crore in the same period last year.
Saying that the earlier estimates about the number of devotees trekking the hill shrine were inflated, he said the total number of devotees during the season in the previous year was only 68 lakh. "We hope the number this year will cross that of the previous year after the Makaravilakku season," he said.
On the inflated figures about the devotees, Mr. Padmakumar said that a previous TDB president had claimed that one crore people had visited the temple a few years ago. The person who succeeded him said the number was between one and 1.5 crore in the following year. Nowadays, a section of the people makes claims about four-five crore visiting the temple, he said. Saying that these are exaggerated accounts, he said that the present estimate was more realistic as it was based on a real-time assessment of the time needed for a devotee to climb the 18-sacred steps.
On the fall of the income, he blamed it on the sales of appam and aravana. Expressing hope that there will be a change during the Makaravilakku season, he also criticised vested interests for spreading false news about the quality of aravana.
He said the idea of making Nilakkal as the base camp had proved a success and that by the next pilgrim season, the basic facilities at Nilakkal will be improved.
