Sabarimala Thulam rush: 65,000 pilgrims a day, minister flags gaps
File photo: Dhinakar01 (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
About 65,000 pilgrims reached Sabarimala on the first darshan day of the Thulam month pooja; the temple closes on October 22 after a rush that exposed transport gaps.
What Happened
The Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district is in the last days of its Thulam month pooja, which ends when the shrine closes at 10 pm on October 22, 2026. The temple opened on October 17, and on October 18, the first full day of darshan, nearly 65,000 pilgrims had reached the shrine by evening. The crowd, swollen by the Navratri holidays, led to long waits for buses on the Nilakkal–Pampa route and a road blockade by pilgrims at Pampa. Health and Devaswom Minister K. Muraleedharan has since said preparations fell short and asked the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to stay extra careful until the closing day.
Key Facts
- The temple opened for the Thulam month rituals on Saturday, October 17, 2026; Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan offered prayers there.
- Nearly 65,000 pilgrims had darshan by the evening of October 18, a crowd that reports compared to the main Mandala–Makaravilakku season.
- The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation added 40 buses, taking the Pampa–Nilakkal chain service to 104, but this was not enough for the rush.
- Pilgrims returning from darshan blocked the road at Pampa after waiting hours for buses; road repairs and an accident on the route added to the delays.
- The minister pointed to poor coordination between the Board and the police on crowd control, and to unfinished repairs at the aravana (prasadam) plant, expected by November 5.
- Booking through the TDB virtual queue is compulsory for darshan; online room bookings were raised to 400 a day for this period.
Why It Matters
Sabarimala opens for a few days at the start of every Malayalam month, as well as for the long Mandala–Makaravilakku season that begins in mid-November. The monthly openings are usually far quieter than the main season. This time the Thulam pooja fell during the Navratri and Dussehra holidays, and the shrine saw a crowd close to what it handles at its busiest. That made the five days a live test of the arrangements that will be used again, on a much larger scale, in a few weeks.
The test showed weak points. The pilgrimage depends on one main route: devotees park at Nilakkal, take buses to Pampa at the foot of the hill, and climb to the Sannidhanam (the temple complex). When the buses run short, thousands of people are left waiting on the riverbank, often without enough food or water. That is what happened on the first weekend, and it ended in a road blockade and tense exchanges with the police.
The minister's comments matter because they come from the government that oversees the Board. By naming poor coordination between the Board and the police, and by flagging pending work at the plant that makes aravana payasam, the sweet prasadam pilgrims take home, he has in effect set out what must be fixed before the main season. The Kerala High Court has also been asking the Board for a detailed readiness report on Sabarimala works.
For devotees, the temple is a living tradition: by custom, pilgrims observe a period of vratham (austerity), carry the irumudi (a two-part bundle of offerings) on their heads and climb the eighteen holy steps. How smoothly that journey runs depends on very practical things: roads, buses, queues and prasadam supply.
| Thulam pooja at a glance | Detail |
|---|---|
| Temple opened | October 17, 2026 |
| Darshan by evening of October 18 | nearly 65,000 |
| Pampa–Nilakkal buses after additions | 104 |
| Aravana plant repairs expected | by November 5 |
| Temple closes | 10 pm, October 22, 2026 |
Impact
Short-term: Pilgrims visiting before the temple closes on October 22 should book a virtual queue slot in advance and expect waits for transport between Nilakkal and Pampa. Police are allowing devotees to move up from Pampa in phases.
Long-term: The rush has given the Board, the police and the transport corporation a clear list of gaps to close before the Mandala–Makaravilakku season, including the roads to the shrine, enough buses, crowd control on the hill and the aravana stock. The Board has planned to raise aravana production and build a large reserve before the season.
Who is affected: Ayyappa devotees from Kerala and the neighbouring southern states; the Travancore Devaswom Board; the Kerala Police; the state transport corporation; and traders and workers around Pampa and Nilakkal.
Key Takeaway
A holiday-season crowd of about 65,000 a day at the short Thulam pooja exposed transport and coordination gaps that Kerala must fix before Sabarimala's main season in November.
Questions and Answers
When does Sabarimala close after the Thulam masa pooja in 2026?
The temple opened on October 17, 2026 for the Thulam month rituals and closes at 10 pm on October 22, 2026, according to reports on the Board's schedule.
Why was there a rush at Sabarimala in October 2026?
The Thulam month pooja coincided with the Navratri and Dussehra holidays. Nearly 65,000 pilgrims had darshan by the evening of October 18 alone, a crowd close to the main pilgrimage season.
What went wrong at Pampa?
Pilgrims returning from darshan waited hours for buses to Nilakkal because the service was short of buses, roads were under repair and an accident slowed traffic. Some blocked the road. The Devaswom Minister said there was a lack of coordination between the Board and the police.
Do pilgrims need to book before visiting Sabarimala?
Yes. Booking a darshan slot through the Travancore Devaswom Board's virtual queue is compulsory, and spot booking at Pampa is limited.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
Sourced and fact-checked by the Peepals Global Editorial Team
Reported, fact-checked and published by the Peepals Global Editorial Team.
