Sabarimala devotees seek better drinking water, toilet facilities

TNN | Nov 12, 2017, 00:20 IST

Madurai: While just four days left for the commencement of the Mandala-Makaravilakku season at Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple, demands for setting up more drinking water and toilet facilities for devotees passing through Madurai have been raised by devotees this time too. They have also demanded that information about temples in the district as well as their opening and closing timings besides route maps be displayed.

This year the season starts on November 16 and ends on January 20. On day one of the Tamil month of 'Karthigai', lakhs of devotees start fasting after adorning the holy "rudraksha mala" around their necks. It is customary of the pilgrims to travel in groups and visit ancient temples including Sri Meenakshi Amman temple and every year hundreds of vans and buses enter the district with thousands of devotees daily.

"But the facilities arranged for them in the past were not adequate. There should be sign boards guiding the pilgrims to temples and display of opening and closing timings. The present toilet facility available near Sri Meenakshi amman temple is not sufficient," said V P Manikandan, an ardent Ayyappa devotee in Madurai.

Devotees also want the temple authority to facilitate free food distribution at its parking lot situated at Ellis Nagar, 2 km away from the temple. Last year, the temple authority stopped the Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangam (ABASS) from giving free food at the Ellis parking lot. ABASS spokesman O P Mani said, "We had been providing free food to devotees alighting at the Ellis Nagar parking lot for three years and we've appealed to the temple management to allow us this time too."

Sri Meenakshi Amman temple joint commissioner N Natarajan said many welfare works had been carried out at the temple's Ellis Nagar parking lot at a cost of Rs 1.59 crore. To fulfil a longstanding demand of devotees, wash basins would be installed at the five entrances of the temple soon. At present, the temple was maintaining free chappal stand at these entrances by engaging contractors. He said that during Sabarimala season, more than 10,000 devotees visited Sri Meenakhi amman temple a day.

"For their welfare, the temple's land was converted to a parking lot in 2013. Over the years, the parking area has undergone a facelift. Now, the entire ground has been covered with pavor blocks at Rs 1.18 crore. A toilet complex has been constructed at Rs 22.14 lakh. We are going to erect two high mast light towers there by the end of this month." The temple collection fetched Rs 9 lakh in 2015, but it rose to Rs 44.81 lakh last year.