A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday directed the State Government and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to inform it whether spot-booking centres for Sabarimala darshan could be opened at the temples managed by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and so on.
The Bench comprising Justice Anil K. Narendran and Justice P.G. Ajithkumar also directed that besides the spot- booking centre at Nilakkal, spot booking shall be permitted at other centres for available slots during the Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season.
The court observed that spot booking at centres other than Nilakkal could not be confined to darshan on the date of booking or the very next day.
The court added that spot booking was insisted by the court to ensure that devotees who did not have the facilities required for online booking were given an opportunity to have Sabarimala darshan.
The court also asked the TDB and the authorities concerned to notify this information in the print and visual media and also at the spot-booking centres.
TDB stand
When the case relating to the Sabarimala virtual queue issue came up for hearing, standing counsel for the TDB submitted that the spot-booking facility was now available at Nilakkal, Erumeli and Kumili. In fact, infrastructure had been put in place at Pathanamthitta, Kottarakkara, Pandalam, Vaikom, Ettumannur, Perumbavoor, and Keezhillam for spot booking and the authorities were awaiting user name and password from Tata Consultancy Services Limited, which had provided the online-booking service.
