Lakhs throng Sabarimala

SABARIMALA: Lakhs of pilgrims thronged the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa and surrounding areas on the eve of Makaravilakku on Friday.

With hardly any vacant space at Sannidhanam, Malikappuram and Pandithavalam, pilgrims started occupying the nearby forest areas to witness the Makarajyothi at the time of deeparadhana after adorning the Thiruvabharanam, at 6.45 p.m. on Saturday.

After a lull in the flow of pilgrims from neighbouring states during the opening days of Makaravilakku season, the hill shrine witnessed heavy flow of pilgrims during the last three days.

Police blocked the pilgrims at Pampa behind the Sree Rama temple and at the entrance of Ganapathi temple from Pampa Manappuram for hours on Friday night to control the pilgrim flow to Sannidhanam.

As a result, the Pampa Manappuram and the road from Pampa Triveni bridge up to the entrance of Ganapathi temple were flooded with pilgrims.