Sabarimala opens for mandala season, virtual queue limited to 70,000.

Pathanamthitta : The Travancore Devaswom Board has limited daily virtual queue booking to 70,000 pilgrims arriving at Sabarimala. The popular hill shrine opened Wednesday evening for the ‘Thulam’ month pooja ahead of the mandala season.
The government was expected to open up 80,000 slots in the virtual queue system and allocate slots for the others under spot booking. It is unclear if TDB plans to allot spot bookings for 10,000 pilgrims once the virtual queue system has occupied 70,000 slots.
The TDB has yet to issue a clarification. A recent meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan decided that only virtual queues would be entertained. As things stand, the government has returned to the 70,000 virtual queue slots it used last season. This is despite opposition from within the LDF against dropping the spot booking option.