Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple in Thiruvananthapuram opened Sunday at 5 p.m. to welcome pilgrims for the Mandala‑Makaravilakku festival season, marking the start of the Kartika month.
The hill shrine will run almost 18 hours a day from November 17 through the end of the season to handle the huge crowds. The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) said the gate may stay open even after the typical closing time on days when the influx is especially large.
Key dates for this year’s celebrations: Mandala puja on December 27 and the final Makaravilakku festival on January 14.
When the online “darshan” booking went live on November 1, more than 22 lakh devotees had already secured their slots by December 1. With the online quota full, the TDB added an extra 20,000 daily places via spot booking. Travelers can grab these slots at counters in Pampa, Nilakkal, Erumeli, Vandiperiyar, Chathram, and Chengannur.
Because of the massive turnout, the board issued several restrictions:
* Mobile phones are banned at the shrine, especially on the sacred 18 steps (Pathinettam Padi) and inside the inner sanctum.
* Cameras and video recordings are forbidden inside temple limits.
Parking now holds up to 14,000 vehicles at Nilakkal and Erumeli. During monthly pujas, a combined 2,000 cars may park at Hilltop. Security tightened with 18,741 police officers along the pilgrimage route, and traffic restrictions closed the road to Pampa on December 27. The road will reopen on December 30 ahead of the Makaravilakku festival.
The Tamil Nadu government has lined up special bus services from Sunday to January 16, while Southern Railway added extra trains to keep the flow of pilgrims steady.
With doors open, the annual pilgrimage that draws millions of Ayyappa devotees from all over India has officially begun, kicking off one of Kerala’s most significant religious seasons.
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