Thousands offer prayers at Sabarimala Ayyappa temple

Thousands of pilgrims today paid obeisance to Lord Ayyappa on the occasion of 'Mandala pooja', marking the finale of the first phase of the three-month-long annual pilgrimage to the famous hill shrine here even as the authorities stepped up crowd management and security measures after a "minor stampede" overnight.
Hours before the sunset, the holy hillock and the base camp Pamba were thronged by devotees from different parts of the country, carrying the offerings to the Lord on their heads.
The air resounded with the chant of "swamiye saranam ayyappa..." as the 'deeparadhana' (arti) was performed at the sanctum sanctorum with the idol of the presiding deity donning the glittering 'thanka angi' (holy jewels), brought from Sree Parthasarathi Temple at Aranmula.

The temple was closed after the pooja and would be re-opened on December 30 for Makaravillaku which falls on January 14.
Large contingents of police, fire department and disaster management personnel were deployed at the foothills of Pamba, along the steep trekking path and atop the 'Sannidhanam' (temple complex) for crowd management and security.
Though the stampede had triggered safety concerns, the day passed off without any trouble.

The temple management said there was a significant increase in the number of pilgrims during the 41-day 'Mandala pooja' season that began in mid-November.
Earlier in the day, Kerala Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran said 31 persons were injured in the minor stampede that occurred last night and assured that an action plan would be formulated to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

He claimed that there was no lapse on the part of the police.
A rope barricade gave way at Malikappuram and the pilgrims leaning on it fell on each other, resulting in injuries to them. The injured pilgrims were mostly from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, the minister added.
A total of 31 persons were injured, two of them seriously. Eight of them were undergoing treatment at Kottayam Medical College Hospital, three in Pathanamthitta Government Hospital, two in Pamba and 18 at the Sannidhanam hospital.
Kerala DGP Loknath Behra claimed that a major tragedy was averted at Sabarimala due to police intervention and denied reports that the stampede was due to ineffective crowd management by the police.

He also said the government would approach Indian Air Force for aerial surveillance during the Makaravilakku pooja.