Sabarimala darshan: Spot booking capped at five thousand every day
Pathanamthitta (Kerala) (PTI): Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on Thursday announced that spot booking for Sabarimala darshan has been capped at 5,000 people per day, officials said on Thursday.
The spot booking was capped following the Kerala High Court's direction, a press release said.
Spot booking will be available only at the Nilakkal and Vandiperiyar centres. The facility has been temporarily suspended at Pampa, Erumeli, and Chengannur and the restrictions will remain in place until November 24, officials said. TDB has urged devotees arriving for Sabarimala darshan to secure their slots through the Virtual Queue system as far as possible. Devotees must arrive on the date and time allotted to them for the darshan.
Kerala High Court's division bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar criticised TDB, saying that the situation at the shrine had recently spiralled out of control as nearly two lakh pilgrims arrived within 48 hours of the temple opening on November 17.
With nearly one lakh pilgrims were allowed darshan every day during the Mandalam–Makaravilakku season and more than 50 lakh visiting annually, the judges said the present arrangements were far from adequate.
Meanwhile, a review meeting of various departments was held at Sabarimala on Thursday to assess the arrangements for the ongoing Mandala–Makaravilakku pilgrimage season.
The meeting, chaired by Additional District Magistrate Arun S Nair, evaluated that the crowd at the hill shrine has now been brought under control. He said that a smooth and safe darshan has been ensured for all devotees.
The meeting noted that the shortcomings seen during the initial days have been fully resolved.
The meeting discussed issues such as emergency medical assistance, crowd management, sanitation, drinking water, and food.
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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge met a high-level delegation from Chile, led by Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna, at Vidhana Soudha on Thursday to discuss collaboration in emerging technologies, clean energy, and startup ecosystems, officials said.
The delegation’s visit to Bengaluru, as part of its India engagements, underscores Karnataka’s growing prominence as a preferred partner for global collaborations in technology, innovation, and startup ecosystems, officials added.
The discussions reflected strong alignment between Chile’s evolving technology-focused growth strategy and Karnataka’s established leadership in innovation and deep-tech ecosystems, according to a statement.
Both sides explored opportunities to build partnerships that move beyond traditional sectors and focus on innovation-led growth, talent exchange, and market access.
The meeting focused on opportunities in renewable energy, including green hydrogen and sustainable industrial innovation.
Other potential areas of collaboration included marine biotechnology, aquaculture technologies, and AI applications across traditional industries.
According to the state IT minister, Karnataka is now a global hub for deep-tech, AI, biotech, aerospace, and advanced research, backed by one of the world’s strongest talent pipelines.
“As partners under the global innovation alliance, we must move beyond agreements on paper to actionable collaboration,” Kharge said.
“We are keen to work with Chile on startup exchanges, market access programmes, and building joint innovation corridors, including R&D centres, incubators, and accelerators. Chile’s position as a gateway to Latin America presents a significant opportunity for our startups to scale globally,” he added.
Officials said the engagement builds on the Letter of Intent signed between the Government of Karnataka and the Government of Chile during the Bengaluru Tech Summit, which established a framework for collaboration in startups, emerging technologies, research, and skill development under the Global Innovation Alliance.
Mackenna, Chile’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the country is actively advancing its transition toward a knowledge- and technology-driven economy.
“Our engagement with Karnataka reflects our interest in building strong innovation partnerships that enable technology exchange, talent collaboration, and access to dynamic startup ecosystems,” he added.
“We see significant potential to work together in sectors such as clean energy, digital technologies, and emerging industries, while also strengthening Chile’s role as a bridge between India and Latin America,” he said.
