Sabrimala: Amid tight security, thousands of pilgrims offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa shrine early Saturday, the first day of Malayalam month ‘Vrischikom,’ even as a hartal against preventive detention of a right wing woman leader caught devotees unawares and disrupted life in Kerala.
The temple had opened Friday evening for the two-month-long annual pilgrimage season as a stand-off continued over entry of menstrual age women into the shrine. All regular pujas began this morning under the new Melshanti (chief priest) Vasudevan Namp-oothiri’s supervision. Pilgrims, including children, queued up in large numbers since the temple opened at 3 am.
Police is maintaining strict vigil in and around the temple complex and are using drones to monitor the movement of pilgrims at Nilackal, the base camp.
Elsewhere, life was disrupted following the dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by Hindu outfits over the preventive detention of Hindu Aikya Vedi state president K P Sasikala early Saturday.
TDB seeks time to move SC
The Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the Sabarimala shrine, would move the SC on Monday seeking more time to implement its order allowing women of menstrual age to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple. We will move the SC on Monday through Advocate Chandra Uday Singh” TDB President A Padmakumar said.
