'Respects court’s observations; arrangements should have started six months ago, no one will be denied darshan'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Devaswom Board President K Jayakumar said that he respects the Kerala High Court's observations over the unprecedented rush in Sabarimala. The arrangements should have started six months ago. Some arrangements were made but it did not yield results. It may be because it was the time for the previous board to relinquish. Those decisions are being implemented now.

The deplorable situation in Sabarimala yesterday was caused by those who had made virtual queue registration and spot bookings. They were allowed to enter only the next day. The situation where people had to stand in queue for 12 hours should not be repeated. Devotees will be allowed for darshan only after arranging them in Nilakkal and Pampa. No one will be denied darshan. The change of the devaswom board during the mandala time has led to the crisis. It will be brought to the attention of the government.

It has been decided to make a festival manual for the Sabarimala season. Information on the conduct of the Kumbh Mela will be studied for this. There was no lack of coordination among government departments in Sabarimala. The lapse occurred in the coordination of departments within the devaswom board. Police coordination has been requested to be improved a little. What happened the other day is seen as a warning. Action will be taken to prevent it from happening again. 18 queue complexes have been created as per the master plan. Unfortunately, these 18 queue complexes are lying vacant. No one is entering them. They were not cleaned. Directions were given to clean everything yesterday. Preparations for the next season will begin in April 2026, Vishu itself, said K Jayakumar.

Meantime, former devaswom board president P S Prashanth said that there was no lapse in the preparations and the problems were due to the unprecedented rush of more devotees. On the evening of November 16, the virtual queue was for 30,000. However, 60,000 people came. More than a lakh came on November 17 and 18. There was a continuous uncontrolled flow of devotees. Sabarimala cannot allow more than 90,000 devotees to have darshan in a day. The problems were resolved by yesterday evening. He said the high court has the right to criticize. Prashanth said that he does not think that the present president K Jayakumar has criticized the former devaswom board or the government.