The temple town and the nearby places witnessed large-scale protests started by various Hindu groups after the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to enter the temple that hitherto banned girls and women aged 10-50.
The Kerala unit of the Congress on Saturday urged Pinaryai Vijayan government to end the 'police raj' in Sabarimala.
"We were there at the temple town and the place looks deserted. If one looks into the previous seasons, by now a million pilgrims would have come and gone, whereas this time due to the 'police raj' prevailing at the temple town, just around 2 lakhs have come till today," Leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media here.
"Pilgrims will only come when the 'police raj' is lifted," Chennithala said, adding that Sabarimala was the only religious place where prohibitory orders were in force.
The district authorities have now extended the prohibitory orders in and around the temple town till November 26 and according to official figures, there has been a drop of Rs 14 crore in revenue for the first week of the season as compared to the previous year.
Last year the total collection was Rs 22 crore.
The temple town and the nearby places witnessed large-scale protests started by various Hindu groups after the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to enter the temple that hitherto banned girls and women aged 10-50.
Earlier on September 28, in a 4:1 verdict the five-member constitution bench, headed by the then Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra lifted the decade-old ban, paving the way for the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple.
Since the September 28 verdict, large-scale protests and counter-protests have brought Kerala to a standstill.
The Left Democratic Front government led by the CPI-M has been trying to implement the apex court's verdict even as the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and several Hindu groups were up in arms against it.
Reacting to the drop in revenue, State Minister for Devasoms (temples) Kadakampally Surendran told the media that while the state government will not have any issues due to it, the salaries, pension and other expenditure of the Travancore Devasom Board will be affected.
