Kerala   

Pilgrims protest at Sabarimala

PATHANAMTHITTA: The ‘aravana’ crisis at Sabarimala took a new turn on Friday with a section of the pilgrims turning violent early on Friday, protesting against the Travancore Devaswom Board’s inability to supply them the ‘prasadam’ owing to shortage of packing material.

The sale of aravana, the most auspicious prasadam at the Ayyappa temple, has been regulated by the TDB to two cans a person for the past three days owing to acute shortage of cans.

The devotees have to wait for five to eight hours in long queues before the counters to get it.

The pilgrims who were waiting in the queue from 4 p.m. on Thursday, braving the cold, were agitated when the counters were closed at 1.30 a.m. on Friday. Many of them were found sobbing.

The agitated devotees raised slogans against the TDB and staged a sit-in before the holy Pathinettampady, singing Ayyappa bhajans.

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