Nine devotees of Lord Ayyappa suffered severe burn injuries after an LPG cylinder explosion at a Shiva temple in Hubballi, Karnataka, on Sunday night. The devotees, who were sleeping at the time of the incident, were rushed to KIMS Hospital, where their condition is reported to be critical.
The blast occurred at the Sainagar locality in Hubballi, where the devotees had been staying while preparing for their pilgrimage to the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple in Kerala. Police suspect that the explosion happened because the cylinder knob may not have been turned off properly after cooking, causing a gas leak that led to the blast.
The injured devotees, all of whom were asleep when the explosion occurred, were quickly transported to the hospital for urgent care.
Annual Sabarimala Procession Underway
Meanwhile, the annual procession carrying the sacred golden attire, the ‘Thanka Anki,’ to the Sabarimala temple began on Sunday from Aranmula in Kerala. The procession is a significant part of the ‘mandalam-makaravilakku’ pilgrimage season, with hundreds of devotees and officials from the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) taking part.
The ‘Thanka Anki,’ weighing 453 sovereigns, was a gift to Lord Ayyappa from the Travancore royal family in the 1970s and is traditionally transported to the hill shrine of Sabarimala during this time. The procession will visit 74 temples on its way to Sabarimala and is expected to reach the temple by December 25.
On December 25, Devaswom Minister VN Vasavan will welcome the procession at Pamba, and the sacred attire will be placed on the idol of Lord Ayyappa during the evening’s ‘arathi.’ The mandala puja, marking the end of the first leg of the pilgrimage season, will take place on December 26.
Security and Crowd Management at Sabarimala
In preparation for the arrival of the ‘Thanka Anki’ procession and the upcoming mandala puja, the district administration has imposed restrictions on crowd size at Sabarimala. Virtual queue bookings will be limited to 50,000–60,000, and spot bookings will be restricted to 5,000. Additionally, access to the traditional forest path from Pamba to Sabarimala will be restricted starting the afternoon of December 25, though the restrictions will be lifted by 5 pm that same day.
