Sabarimala mandala season ends with record Rs 332.77 crore revenue
P'THITTA: Unperturbed by the controversies surrounding the alleged theft of gold from the Sabarimala temple, devotees continued to throng the hill shrine in large numbers and made generous offerings during the mandala pilgrimage season. As the temple closed its sanctum sanctorum on Saturday night, marking the end of the mandala season, the total revenue stood at a record Rs 332.77 crore, according to the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB). During the previous season, the total revenue after 41 days of the mandala pilgrimage was Rs 297.06 crore. The temple closed at 10pm on Saturday after Harivarasanam, following the mandala pooja held in the morning. The temple will reopen on December 30 evening for the makaravilakku festival. TDB president K Jayakumar said the revenue collected till Friday stood at Rs 332,77,05,132 generated through offerings (kanikka), sale of appam and aravana prasadam, room rent and auction proceeds. Kanikka alone accounted for Rs 83.17 crore of the total amount. This season, the revenue saw an increase of Rs 35.7 crore, even though the count is for 40 days, reflecting the growing faith of devotees, Jayakumar said. So far, more than 30.56 lakh devotees have visited the shrine this season. On Friday, 37,521 pilgrims had darshan, while 17,818 devotees reached the shrine till 1pm on mandala pooja day. Aravana prasadam production to be scaled up Last season, the total pilgrim count at the end of the mandala period was 32.49 lakh. Travancore Devaswom Board president K Jayakumar said despite heavy rush on peak days, the devaswom board and the police and various departments worked in coordination to ensure smooth darshan throughout the season, barring minor confusion on the opening day. He said the aravana prasadam production will be scaled up once the temple closes on Saturday night. When the shrine reopens for makaravilakku, a buffer stock of 12 lakh tins of aravana will be available. The existing cap of 10 tins per devotee is expected to continue, and arrangements will be made to dispatch additional quantities by post after January 20.Preparations for the makaravilakku festival were reviewed at a meeting held at Pampa on Friday under Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan. Another meeting involving the forest department will be held in Thiruvananthapuram on December 29 to address issues related to forest routes, including Pulmedu, said Jayakumar.
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