Heavy rains land pilgrims in soup

Sabarimala witnessed a heavy rush on Sunday. The picture shows long queues of pilgrims at Pampa. The hill shrine was reopened on Friday last in view of Makaravilakku festival - DC

Torrential rains that lashed Sabarimala for about eighteen hours since Friday night badly hit the pilgrims, especially those using the Swamy Ayyappan Road that turned slushy.

As the temple opened for Makaravilakku festival and tension eased in the border districts over Mullaperiyar issue, pilgrims from Tamil Nadu started flowing to the temple, resulting in heavy rush in the last two days.
Removal of pilgrim shelters as part of the proposed Sabarimala Masterplan in and around Sannidhanam also left pilgrims without enough shelters to escape the heavy downpour.

The most affected were the elderly and the children.
Though a shelter was inaugurated at Pandithavalam, heavy rush along with rains made things tough for pilgrims who were waiting in the queue to have darshan.
Pilgrims who opted to walk along the Swamy Ayyappan Road ended up in misery as the road turned slushy.
Makaravilakku: PWD arranges open space

Sabarimala is all set to observe Makaravilakku festival on January 15. Compared to last year, more pilgrims are expected to throng Sannidhanam because of the restrictions imposed at Pulmedu.
“Maramath (Public Works Department) has arranged for an additional 25,000 sq ft open space to help pilgims have a smooth Makaravilakku darshan. Under the Sabarimala Masterplan, we have removed four cottages and ten pilgrim shelters at various points near Sannidhanam. This space can contain more than 3,000 pilgrims,” said a PWD official to DC.
Officials also appealed the pilgrims to keep Sabari Nandanam, a garden of rare flowers used for poojas at the shrine near Malikappuram, intact.
The garden gets destroyed during every Makaravilakku season as pilgrims who throng the garden break the compound nets to witness Makaravilakku.
Heart attack claims two

A pilgrim and a policeman died at Sabarimala of heart attack on Sunday. The deceased were identified as Subramanyam (75) a native of Anantapur, Andra Pradesh and Suresh Kumar (51), assistant sub-inspector of police and a native of Perumbavoor, Ernakulam.
Subramanyam was taken to the Cardiac Centre at Appachimedu soon after he complained of chest pain while climbing the hill around 3 pm.
Suresh Kumar, ASI of Kottappadi police station, Ernakulam Rural, who was on duty at Pampa was rushed to the Amrita Emergency Medical Centre at Pampa after he complained of discomfort at 7:30 a.m. But on the way to hospital he died.
The body of Suresh Kumar was taken to his home town, while body of Subramanyam was kept at Pathanamthitta GH.