Kerala HC Orders Immediate Cut in Sabarimala Spot Bookings After Dangerous Crowd Surge

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday ordered that spot bookings for Sabarimala darshan be immediately slashed to 5,000 per day across all centres until November 24, after reviewing alarming reports of dangerously high pilgrim inflow over the first three days of the Mandala–Makaravilakku season. Court also directed that Virtual-Q booking should remain capped at 70,000, warning that the existing crowd volume had pushed infrastructure at Sannidhanam and Pamba close to collapse.

The Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K.V. Jayakumar issued the directions after the Sabarimala Special Commissioner reported that queues had stretched beyond Marakkoottam, with the combined number of Virtual-Q and spot-booked pilgrims exceeding one lakh on multiple days. On the opening day alone, over 53,000 pilgrims reached Sannidhanam against a permissible cap of 30,000, and more than 40,000 devotees were forced to remain overnight to wait for the Ghee Abhishekam the following morning.

Court noted that on November 17, the total footfall at the hill shrine was 98,950, while on November 18, nearly 85,000 pilgrims reached Sannidhanam despite hold-and-release controls applied at multiple points en route. By 1 pm on Wednesday, the footfall had already touched 50,000, prompting the court to remark that the situation required “urgent and immediate intervention”.

Stressing that crowd control mechanisms had become ineffective under the current volume, court ordered the Travancore Devaswom Board to strictly ensure that the total number of spot bookings issued across Erumeli, Nilakkal, Pamba, Vandiperiyar and Chengannur Railway Station does not cross the new 5,000-per-day ceiling. It also directed the Board to deploy adequate staff for the uninterrupted distribution of drinking water and refreshments, after the Amicus Curiae flagged poor availability of basic facilities, including Chukkuvellam and biscuits.

The Bench directed the sanitation squad chief to conduct an immediate inspection of the toilets and submit a cleanliness report, alongside an independent verification to be filed by the Special Commissioner.

Concerns were also raised over the management of the traditional trekking route (Kanana Patha), following which the court ordered that not more than 5,000 pilgrims per day be allowed on the forest path. All such pilgrims must possess either a Virtual-Q booking or a valid spot booking. The Forest Department has been instructed to issue passes accordingly.

On Pathinettam Padi, court accepted the government’s assurance that trained personnel from the Indian Reserve Battalion would be deployed to manage crowd movement at the holy steps. The Bench also recorded the State’s commitment to streamline the often-criticised dolly service.

During the hearing, the Devaswom Board told the court that the Election Commission had restricted the Devaswom Minister from convening coordination meetings essential for real-time management of the pilgrimage. While declining to interfere with the bar on media interaction, the court relaxed the restriction on meetings, permitting the Minister to lead coordination efforts for the season.

Beyond the immediate measures, the Bench issued an extensive set of long-term directions, observing that Sabarimala, located within the ecologically sensitive Periyar Tiger Reserve, could no longer be managed through seasonal, reactive steps. It said that neither the Devaswom Board nor the police can, in isolation, handle a pilgrimage of this magnitude.

Court ordered the constitution of a Sabarimala Infrastructure & Crowd Management Expert Committee, comprising specialists in transport engineering, urban planning, disaster science, environmental science, public health and data systems. The Committee will prepare a scientific master plan for each season, conduct GIS-based amenity audits, measure footfall and crowd density at all nodes, undertake structural safety checks and set density-based safety thresholds to prevent crush-risk conditions.

Court noted that crowd density at Sannidhanam had already crossed global red-zone levels on high-inflow days and directed the Board to publish capacity limits and issue real-time advisories to pilgrims.

Finally, court suo motu impleaded the Deputy Director, Periyar West Division, as an additional respondent and listed the matter for November 24, 2025.

Case Title: Suo Motu vs State of Kerala

Order Date: November 19, 2025

Bench: Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K.V. Jayakumar