Tovino Thomas leads voter turnout as Kerala polls heat up
Actor Tovino Thomas casts his vote in Thrissur as Kerala records impressive voter turnout. Key constituencies see fierce electoral battles in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections.
The Kerala High Court held a special sitting on Monday in the wake of the news reports that devotees including children were stuck on the roads to Sabarimala temple for over 12 hours without food and water.
The Court issued directions to the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to provide water, snacks, and other facilities at ‘Edathavalams’ which are short-term resting places for pilgrims.
The Devaswom bench comprising Justice Anil K Narendran and Justice G Girish held the special sitting on the Christmas Day and issued directions to the TDB to provide food, water and other facilities to the devotees.
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The Court also stated that the state police chief should directly intervene in the matters if necessary.
Sabarimala Shri Ayyappa temple has been witnessing a huge rush of pilgrims for the last so many days.
With a surge in the crowd at the temple, police had to restrict vehicles from proceeding towards the temple.
Consequently, vehicles have been caught in traffic for over 12 hours. Police have also been stopping buses carrying pilgrims at Vaikom. Pilgrims even protested against the police blocking.
The hill shrine witnessed its heaviest rush this season on Monday with pilgrims waiting for hours to reach the sanctum sanctorum and get darshan of Lord Ayyappa.
Around 1,00,969 pilgrims climbed the ‘Pathinettampadi’ to get a darshan of the deity on Sunday.
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