The Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala continued to witness heavy rush for the fifth consecutive day on Monday, forcing the pilgrims to stand in jampacked queues for nine hours to have darshan of the Lord.
The unprecedented rush of pilgrims, which began on Thursday, was seen on the trekking path, where the queue extended up to Appachimedu from Sarankuthi.
The police personnel and the Central paramilitary force RAF were finding it hard to manage the heavy flow of pilgrims.Winding queues were seen on the flyover at Sopanam, Holy Steps, Lower Thirumuttam, Valiyanadapandal, Saramkuthi, extending up to Sabaripeedom.
The movement of pilgrims at North Nada, flyover connecting Sopanam to Malikappuram and Mallikappuram Nadanpandal was almost impossible due to the heavy rush.
At Pampa, the police blocked the movement of pilgrims at Pampa Anjaneya Auditorium and several points at Pampa Nadapandal due to the heavy flow of pilgrims.
The police also blocked the pilgrim vehicles at Nilackal to facilitate the smooth movement of vehicles between Attathode and Pampa. Special buses carrying pilgrims were allowed to proceed only up to Nilackal pilgrim transit camp and were asked to take KSRTC buses to Pampa due to the heavy rush of pilgrims at Sannidhanam and Pampa.
