CHENNAI: The online tokens issued for devotees for darshan at Sabarimala Ayyappa shrine will be increased to 80,000 per day, said the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).

It decided after taking note of the rise in the number of pilgrims coming to the hill temple compared to last year, and also the surge in the recent days after the temple opened for the Mandala season.

The board has submitted the proposal to the Kerala High Court, and will increase the daily online token booking limit after getting the court’s permission, said a Daily Thanthi report.

The Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple opened for the Mandala season on November 15. Since then, devotees have been thronging the temple. In just seven days since the temple opened, 4.8 lakh devotees have visited the temple. That is 1.75 lakh more than the number of devotees who visited during the same period last year.

As per the procedure put in place, 80,000 devotees are being given tokens for darshan every day. Of this, 70,000 tokens are issued through online reservations and 10,000 through spot bookings.