Thiruvananthapuram: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has decided to allow booking for darshan at Sabarimala only via virtual queue this season. TDB president P S Prasanth said appropriate action will be taken in consultation with the government. Talking to the media, Prasanth said no pilgrim will have to return without getting darshan and that the virtual queue system was implemented to ensure the safety of devotees reaching the hill shrine.

The board's decision to avoid spot booking completely and permit only 80,000 bookings per day for darshan caused controversy last season. The darshan timings at Sabarimala have been modified this season -- from 3 am to 1 pm, and from 3 pm to 11 pm.

Prasanth said the official ID of pilgrims visiting Sabarimala is obtained through the virtual queue system, which ensures the safety of devotees. "With virtual queue, you can know in advance the number of pilgrims to be expected. The more people come to the hill shrine, the more profit TDB would make. But, devotees' safety cannot be compromised. If spot booking is made available, nobody will book via the virtual queue system. However, the decision is not etched in stone. At present, the board believes virtual queue is sufficient. Appropriate action will be taken in consultation with the government," he said.

Last season, several devotees had to return from Pandalam without getting a darshan after crowd control became an issue at Sabarimala. The opposition had strongly demanded the reinstatement of spot booking. However, Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan said spot booking was avoided to facilitate a smooth pilgrimage for devotees and to ensure crowd control.