The Travancore Devaswom Board — a body, which manages all temples in the southern part of India — has been directed by the Kerala High Court to ensure that incidents of VIP darshan causing obstruction to pilgrims does not take place in Sabarimala during the Mandala-Makaravilakku festival season.
This is an annual season, which draws millions of devotees from the entire country. People come here to experience the spiritual significance of the pilgrimage associated with Sabarimala temple, which is dedicated to Lord Ayyappa.
The order has been passed by Justice Anil K Narendran and Justice Muralee Krishna S of Division Bench.
The directive was passed on the basis of the Special Commissioner’s report that obstruction was caused to pilgrims at Sabarimala on December 05, 2024 as Malayalam film actor Dileep arrived for darshan.
"What is the privilege he is having? What is happening there? Will it not obstruct or hinder the darshan of other devotees, which includes children and aged persons, who have been standing in queue for several hours? "Many of them had to wait and many others had to move on without having darshan. To whom will they complain? How was he permitted to stand there for so long? How was he given special treatment?" the court asked.
“We think it necessary to direct the Travancore Devaswom Board to take appropriate steps to ensure that such incidents should not cause obstruction of proper darshan by the pilgrims who are standing. People from all age groups visit the temple during this time. This includes children, senior citizens and persons of disability. The board will have to make sure that such incidents are not repeated in front of Sopanam of Sabarimala during the Mandala-Makaravilakku festival season,” reads the order.
It said only persons in Constitutional positions were permitted such preferential treatment according to judicial orders, including those of the Supreme Court, and therefore, what happened on Thursday was a violation of the same.
The Special Commissioner had informed the court that pilgrims felt choked because of over overcrowding as their darshan was obstructed. It was informed that Dileep was in front of Sopanam in Sabarimala during the entire ceremony which disrupted the effective crowd management.
The court has verbally remarked that it would initiate contempt proceedings against officials who grant special privileges to celebrities and other VIPs without adhering to the court’s orders on crowd management.
It also indicated that it would give a serious thought about whether or not these celebrities should be allowed to create obstacles for pilgrims.
The court has sought reports from the officers in-charge in Sabarimala and has also directed for production of CCTV footage.
Actor Dileep is allegedly the one controlling the so-called 'power group' in Malayalam cinema, which the Justice Hema Commission mentioned in its recently released report.
According to the Hema Committee, a 15-member group, comprising certain actors who are also producers, distributors, exhibitors, or directors, was in full control of the Malayalam film industry.
As per reports, Dileep controlled various bodies in the Malayalam film industry, including AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes), until the actress assault case in 2017, in which he was one of the accused.
Moreover, to clear the rush of Sabarimala pilgrims, the South Central Railway (SCR) will run 28 additional Sabarimala special trains including six from the city.
Accordingly, Moula Ali-Kollam (07193) will run on December 11, 18 and 25, Kollam-Moula Ali (07194) will run on December 13, 20 and 27, Moula Ali — Kollam (07149) will run on December 14, 21 and 28, Kollam — Moula Ali (07150) will run on December 16, 23 and 30.
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