Thiruvananthapuram: All preparations are in place for the start of a new season at the Lord Ayyappa-dedicated Sabarimala temple, which will welcome visitors on Tuesday morning. Later on Monday, temple officials and priests will arrive at the temple and begin their customary prayers before opening the temple to devotees at 5.30 p.m.

However, with the state's severe rainfall, things appear to be in flux, with authorities imposing limits. The sacred dip in the Pamba river, which is required of all worshippers before beginning the ascent to the hilltop temple, has been forbidden until further notice.

It has been decided to limit the number of devotees per day to a maximum of 30,000, which must be pre-booked, with spot booking desks opening in a few days. More than 1.3 million pilgrims have pre-booked their temple visits, according to temple officials. With a few days off in December, the two-month temple season will culminate in the third week of January.

The Supreme Court first gave its approval for the temple to be open to all women. Women between the ages of 10 and 50 were forbidden from entering the temple, and with the Kerala government determined to carry out the highest court's ruling, Sangh Parivar adherents staged a major protest, resulting in multiple skirmishes.

Then came the Covid-19 pandemic, which halted the two-month-long festival season in 2020, and things aren't looking good this year, either, as all pilgrims entering must either have a negative RT-PCR test report done within 72 hours or must have had both vaccine shots.

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