Kochi, 19 November(HS): The Kerala High Court on Wednesday censured the LDF Government for the chaos and disarray at the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa Temple.

Taking into consideration the last two days’ uncontrolled gathering at the holy shrine, the Court blamed the State administration for failing to make arrangements in the temple and surrounding areas for the pilgrims who come from faraway places to get trouble free darshan.

Tuesday and Wednesday saw thousands of devotees returning home without getting a chance to offer prayers in the holy shrine. “Because of the failure of the authorities, thousands of devotees who had reached the shrine were forced to stand in the queue for more than ten hours to get a darshan. This is unheard of anywhere in the world,” observed the Court.

Meanwhile, leaders of various Hindu outfits took strong objection to the callous attitude of the state administration towards the temple affairs. “What we see in Sabarimala is a gross violation of Human Rights and the authorities paying scant regards to the woes of the devotees. The indifference shown by the State administration would result in humongous human tragedy,” said Valsan Thillankery, leader of the 2018 Sabarimala agitation and president of Hindu Aikya Vedi.

Speaking to reporters at Sabarimala, Thillankeri said the government should have begun the preparations for the Mandala Puja (the 41-day-long annual festival) at least six months ago.

“We strongly feel that the Central Government should immediately intervene in the affairs of the temple and make sure the festival goes off smoothly,” said Thillankery.

V G Tampi, president of VHP, Kerala, said he was shocked to see the sufferings of the people, including infants and women who had thronged the shrine. “There is no sanitation worth its name . There are no toilets or drinking water facilities. Devotees have been standing in the queue for 14 hours, and they do not have facilities to sit or even safely squat on the floor. This is cruelty of the highest order committed on the devotees with the sole intention f keeping the pilgrims off the temple. If this situation persists, one cannot rule out the possibility of a major stampede leading to the death of hundreds of pilgrims,” said Tampi with anguish.

Hundreds of devotees could not make it to Sabarimala because of the massive crowd and the inability of the cops to manage the people. This resulted in them returning home without visiting the sanctum sanctorum.

Hindusthan Samachar / Manohar Yadavatti