The Kerala High Court, alarmed by dangerously high pilgrim inflows during the Mandala-Makaravilakku season at Sabarimala, has issued sweeping directions aimed at tightening crowd management and safeguarding devotee welfare. In a recent suo motu hearing prompted by a report from the Sabarimala Special Commissioner, the Court sharply criticised the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and other agencies for inadequate planning, reactive enforcement and failures in coordinating critical amenities. As a short-term measure, the Court slashed the daily cap on “spot bookings” from 20,000 to 5,000 pilgrims, emphasizing that the existing system was overstretched and unable to cope with the excess influx. The Court also instructed that while the virtual-queue bookings continue at a capped level, the reduced spot booking must be strictly enforced across all entry points such as Erumeli, Pamba, Nilakkal and Nilakkal Railway Station.
But the Court’s reform agenda goes beyond fixing numerical limits. It called for the constitution of a “Sabarimala Infrastructure & Crowd Management Expert Committee” to develop a scientific, data-driven master plan for pilgrimage seasons. The panel is to include experts in transport engineering, civil engineering, urban and regional planning, disaster and crowd science, environmental science, public health, and data analytics. This committee has been instructed to assess the “carrying capacity” of various pilgrimage nodes — including queue areas, pathways, and rest zones — and craft a long-term crowd management strategy.
The Court has also stressed the need for a comprehensive audit of infrastructure using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to map and geo-tag amenities such as drinking-water stations, rest shelters, medical facilities and toilets. These steps aim to identify service gaps and “blind zones” where pilgrim safety and comfort might be compromised. Simultaneously, a structural safety audit has been ordered to examine railings, barricades, stairways and holding areas to prevent crowd crush or related hazards.
Recognising that crowd control measures cannot work in isolation, the Court has mandated better coordination among several stakeholders: the TDB, the police, the forest department, district administration and health services. These agencies must collaborate in both planning and execution to ensure continuous provision of essential services — shade, sanitation, rest areas and medical help — even during peak rush.
To ensure accountability, the Court made it clear that directions issued by the district administration or police are binding on the TDB. It warned that the Board must comply with safety-related instructions and not act on its own without due regard for coordinated crowd management.
The Court linked its concerns to ecology as well. Given that Sabarimala lies within a sensitive wildlife reserve area, the expert committee must factor in environmental constraints and sustainability in its crowd-management blueprint. The Court underscored that any plan must respect conservation norms, while ensuring pilgrimage is safe, humane and manageable.
Through these orders, the Kerala High Court has signalled a shift from reactive crisis management toward proactive, evidence-based governance of pilgrim movement. By mandating a scientific master plan, cooperation across departments and strict enforcement of capacity limits, it aims to prevent large-scale overcrowding and protect both the spiritual experience and physical safety of devotees.
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