PATHANAMTHITTA: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on Sunday decided to increase the ‘darshan’ timings at the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala here by an hour following an increase in the number of devotees arriving for pilgrimage there.
The Board decided to modify the darshan timings in the second half of the day from 3 pm to 11 pm instead of from 4 pm to 11 pm, an official from the district administration said.
An 11-year-old girl from Salem had collapsed while waiting for darshan as crowd control went haywire at Appachimedu in Sabarimala and later died at Pampa Hospital on Saturday. The deceased was identified as Padamasree, 11, daughter of Kumaran and Jayalakshmi from Salem.
Many devotees were seen on TV channels and in WhatsApp videos complaining that they have been standing in queues for more than 10-12 hours for darshan. Pilgrims were also seen stuck in traffic jams along the route to Sabarimala.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly VD Sathessan also alleged that the facilities for devotees were inadequate with pilgrims having to wait 15 to 20 hours for darshan.