PATHANAMTHITTA: Two Ayyappa devotees collapsed and died while taking the walk uphill towards the temple. The deceased are Chandran Pillai, 69, from Kollam and Andhra Pradesh native, Sanjeev, 65. Both of them died at two different spots.

While Chandra Pillai died at Appachimedu, Sanjeev died at Neelimala area. Both were brought to the government hospital at Pamba but their lives could not be saved.

More than ten thousand Ayyappa devotees flowed to Sabarimala on the first day of the pilgrimage. The temple opened on Vrishchikam 1st, which was on Wednesday. Even before the temple opened there was a huge rush of devotees. Thousands of devotees are reaching Sabarimala each day by using virtual queue system and also without it.

Meanwhile, the government had taken the decision to appoint retired police officers, ex-service men, NCC cadets, and also temporary police officers including women. 1250 police officers are now deployed in and around the Sabarimala temple premises. When the number of pilgrims get higher the number of police personnel on duty will also increase. In addition, temporary police officers are appointed on daily wages.

The Mandala Pooja will be on 27 December. The temple will be opened on 30 December for Makara Villaku festival. Makara Villaku will be on 14th January. The pilgrimage will come to an end on 20th January.