THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Pilgrims visiting the Sabarimala hill shrine will soon have more time for darshan, thanks to a new queue arrangement. Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P S Prasanth announced that the system will be implemented from the next monthly pooja days.

“During the annual pilgrimage season, 250-300 pilgrims receive darshan per minute, allowing them only 4-5 seconds to view the idol. Currently, 80% of pilgrims are dissatisfied with this arrangement,” Prasanth told reporters on Monday.

Under the new system, pilgrims ascending the 18 holy steps will no longer be directed to the flyover. Instead, they will enter the temple through the main entrance near the flagmast and balikallu. Inside the temple, there will be two queues separated by the bhandaram.

“Pilgrims will have a view of the idol while moving in the queue and a final, prolonged view in front of the sanctum, increasing their darshan time to 20-30 seconds,” Prasanth said. The new system will be experimentally implemented during the Meenam pooja days and the Vishu festival. If successful, it will be adopted for the annual pilgrimage season.

Meanwhile, the global Ayyappa summit will be held at Pampa during the monthly pooja in May, with devotees from around 17 countries expected to attend.