With less than a week left for the annual pilgrimage season at Sabarimala to kick off, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) counts on a turnaround in its fortunes with a marked improvement in footfall on the holy hillock.
According to TDB officials, the slots booked for darsan through the virtual queue system has already crossed 12 lakh mark. The number, though it remained well below what the temple typically received during the pre-pandemic years, still stands in stark contrast to the total footfall of less than one-lakh last year.
The income from Sabarimala, which used to be the TDB's mainstay for long, too had fallen to ₹21 crore during the last pilgrimage season as against ₹270 crore in the previous year.
“The quota of daily bookings is set at 30,000 against the actual limit of 25,000 to account for the cancellation margin, and if a significant percentage of these bookings convert into actual turnouts, the board may be able to offset a portion of the economic ruin that it has suffered since last year. The daily limit of pilgrims too may witness an upward revision with the subsiding pandemic situation,” said TDB president N. Vasu.
The restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 is having a drastic effect on its revenue sources with the board suffering a loss of over ₹600 crore since March last year. Following this, the board had to approach the State Government seeking a financial assistance to prepare for the pilgrimage season this year.
Despite the anticipated rise in footfall, efforts to auction off the stalls at Sabarimala, Pampa and Nilackal witnessed a rather lukewarm response this year. The restaurants, which used to receive the highest bids every year, registered a near-zero demand in the absence of a permission for overnight stay of devotees.
Meanwhile, the High Court of Kerala, which is hearing a petition to bring the virtual queue system under direct control of the TDB, has directed the State Police Chief as well as Tata Consultancy Service to explain the measures taken to maintain privacy of the booking data. In an interim order, the court sought clarity on the status of land between Nilackal, Pampa and Sannidhanam and also on the option for cancellation booking and spot booking in the virtual queue system.
