THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Padmanabha Swami Temple, the world famous temple of Lord Mahavishnu, also noticed significant drop in the income at the ongoing Sabarimala festive season, owing to massive drops in number devotees. November, the first month of Mandala Makaravilakku season, witnessed a drop of at least 10,000 devotees compared with the same period, last season. This directly affected the income from offerings and other poojas.

During Mandala-Makaravilakku season, majority of devotees that visit Padmanabha Swami temple are from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The second half of the season used to register peak in-flow of devotees. They used to visit the temple in groups and book special poojas in advance. These rituals end with them offering money(Kanikka) to the shrine.

The decrease in footfalls also affected the business nearby the temple. The temple accounts registered a decrease of Rs 30,000 income from November 15 to 31.

"The decrease in the number of devotees also affected temple's income. But the increase in footfalls at Sabarimala is a welcome sight. We hope more devotees to drop in at the temple in the coming days", says V. Satheesan, the Executive Officer of Padmanabha Swami Temple.