Pathanamthitta (Kerala): The Sabarimala hill shrine has recorded over 15 lakh devotees this Mandala-Makaravilakku season, according to officials monitoring the pilgrimage.

By 7 pm on December 3, the official tally stood at 14,95,774 visitors, with numbers from late-evening arrivals still to be added, pushing the total footfall beyond 15 lakh. Authorities noted that nearly 15 per cent of those who booked slots through the virtual queue system did not turn up, while on-site bookings remain capped at 5,000.

The flow of devotees has been particularly intense, with 66,522 pilgrims reaching Sabarimala between midnight and 7 pm on Wednesday alone, marking a busy 18-day stretch in the ongoing season. Officials said crowd management remains fully under control, and an expansion of virtual queue slots is being considered.

Meanwhile, political friction has escalated after former Travancore Devaswom Board President A Padmakumar was sent in 14 days of judicial custody in the Sabarimala gold theft case. Criticising the CPM-led state government, Congress MLA and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan said the ruling party could no longer distance itself from the issue.

"Initially, the CPM secretary and other members defended that it was only done by Unnikrishnan Potti (prime accused). The opposition insisted that apart from him, other board members appointed by CPM Ministers, responsible for Devaswom, were involved in this gold pilferage," Satheesan told ANI.

Unnikrishnan Potti, identified as the main accused, had been taken into custody by the SIT on October 17.

Satheesan further claimed, "The HC and police team now found that they are all culprits and are going to jail. The HC directed the SIT they constituted to submit the report only to the HC, not the government, which clears that the court suspects the government also."

ANI