Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Monday decided to allow only a limited number of devotees to the Sabarimala hill shrine during the annual pilgrimage season including Makaravilakku.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that though notwithstanding the restrictions imposed on the number of devotees, all rituals and ceremonies at the temple will be held as usual.
A majority of pilgrims to Sabarimala come from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. During normal times there is no restriction on the number of pilgrims coming from the neighbouring states.
However, this time around only a limited number of devotees would be allowed from each state. A high-level committee headed by the chief secretary and the police chief, home secretary, devaswom principal secretary, health secretary and forest secretary has been constituted to examine the…
