Turning Sabarimala into global pilgrimage centre among aims of Ayyappa sangamam: Vasavan

The Global Ayyappa Sangamam will become a platform to present before the devotees the projects envisaged for the future development of Sabarimala to turn it into a global pilgrimage centre, Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan has said.

In a press release on Wednesday, he said that it would also become a venue for Ayyappa devotees from across the world to present their ideas, leading to the formulation of a common policy from all the inputs.

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) also aimed at exploring investment opportunities for improving the basic infrastructure at the pilgrimage centre. A database of Ayyappa devotees from across the world would be prepared. A unified platform would be prepared by bringing together various modern mechanisms to ensure the smooth arrival and departure of devotees from any part of the world. Setting up of help desks in various countries would be considered. The meet was also intended to explore the possibilities of pilgrimage tourism by preserving the traditions and sanctity of the temple, he said.

Mr. Vasavan said that discussions would happen across three venues, with experts from various fields participating. The meet would be the most important initiative of the TDB in its platinum jubilee year. The government’s initiatives were not aimed at just one pilgrimage season, but the next quarter century. More than double the present number of devotees would be able to visit the temple if all the plans envisaged by the government became a reality.

₹220.78 cr. for Sabarimala

The Minister said that since 2016-17, the State government had allocated ₹220.78 crore for various projects in Sabarimala. In addition, developmental activities were taken up using funds from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). For the three phases of developmental activities at the Sannidhanam till 2039, a total of ₹778.17 crore was estimated as per the plan. The two-phased Pamba development was expected to cost ₹207.48 crore. The trekking route development was expected to cost ₹47.97 crore.