Till December 6, the revenue touched Rs 69.39 crore which was about Rs 27.55 crore more than it was in the corresponding period of the 2018-19 pilgrim season, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) that administers the affairs of the shrine, said.
Use of mobile phones has been banned around the area near the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, official sources said on Wednesday. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which administers the hill shrine, here on Wednesday in the backdrop of pictures of the highly secured sanctum sanctorum being circulated widely in the social media recently.
As the annual pilgrimage season is progressing at Sabarimala, the Kerala government is making all efforts to make it a "green" affair by avoiding plastic articles and promoting the use of eco-friendly products.
Bindu Ammini, who created history by visiting Sabarimala temple last year following the Apex Court order, was part of the team led by gender rights activist Trupti Desai.
She said she has come up with the 2018 order of the Supreme Court permitting entry of women of all age groups into the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
The temple would be closed after the customary daily rituals and poojas including 'Neyyabhishekam' and would be reopened after 'punyaham', the purification ritual post the eclipse, temple executive officer said here in a statement.
A 76-year-old Ayyappa devotee from Mumbai, who was returning after darshan, died following heart attack on Wednesday, police said. The deceased, M V Balan, from Chembur was being taken on a 'dolly' when he complained of chest pain.
The Lord Ayyappa temple here received over Rs 3.30 crore as revenue on the first day when it opened on Saturday as compared to the Rs 1.28 crore last season which was marred by protests by a section of devotees and right-wing outfits over the women's entry issue.
As the Sabrimala Temple is scheduled to open today for the Mandala Pooja Festival, the police have sent back 10 women from Pamba on Saturday. The women (between the age of 10 to 50) had come from Andhra Pradesh to offer prayers at the temple.
The left government would consult legal experts to get more clarity on the Supreme Court's Sabarimala verdict but it seems that the earlier order on allowing entry of women of all age groups still stands, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday. Vijayan, who met the media here to explain the government stand in the backdrop of the apex court's decision to refer the case to a larger bench, said the state government was always ready to implement the court order, whatsoever it may be.
"What I understand is that till the court order comes, entry is open for women and no one should protest against it. People who say that there is no discrimination at all are wrong because women of specific ages are not allowed there. I am going to offer prayers on November 16," the Pune-based Desai told reporters after the SC verdict
The Supreme Court today said restrictions on women in religious places was not limited to Sabarimala alone and was prevalent in other religions as well as it referred all review pleas to a larger seven-judge bench.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce today its verdict on a batch of petitions seeking re-examination of its decision to allow entry of women of all age groups in Kerala's Sabarimala Temple.
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is set to retire on November 17, before which he is scheduled to deliver verdicts in some of the most important cases. The apex court on Thursday will deliver verdicts on Rafale review petition, Sabarimala case and the contempt case against Rahul Gandhi.
The temple is dedicated to the Hindu celibate deity Ayyappan, also known as Dharma Sastha, who according to belief is the son of Shiva and Mohini, the feminine incarnation of Vishnu. The temple is accessible only on foot from Pamba.
The CPI-M, at its national review meeting in Delhi last week, acknowledged that the Sabarimala shrine controversy dented its chances in the polls.
"The BJP has already made it very clear that it would take care of the Sabarimala issue. Therefore I need not say anything about it. Let's just wait for a while," said the 60-year-old Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra.
With counting of votes reaching its last round in Kerala, the Congress and its United Democratic Front (UDF) were poised to grab 19 of the 20 seats, leaving only one seat to the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).
The Kerala unit of the BJP on Thursday made it clear that one of its Lok Sabha election campaigns will be the Sabarimala issue.
The Sabarimala temple is all set to get a new gold-plated door when the hill shrine opens for the 11-day monthly poojas next week.
Top News
Latest News
