Disclaimer: This has been reported after the availability of the order of the Court and not on media reports so as to give an accurate report to our readers.
Kerala High Court: In a suo motu proceedings registered on the basis of the Sabarimala Special Commissioner’s Report concerning crowd management during the 2025—2026 Mandala—Makaravilakku festival, K.V. Jayakumar and Raja Vijayaraghavan V,* JJ., issued the comprehensive directions for crowd management at Sabarimala during Mandala—Makaravilakku season 2025-2026.
“This Court cannot, and will not, permit a situation where lakhs of innocent devotees are exposed to foreseeable, preventable, and potentially fatal hazards, merely due to lax enforcement or administrative complacency.”
Due to the unprecedented rush of pilgrims and devotees, the Court, vide order dated 19-11-2025 capped Virtual-Q bookings at 70,000 per day and spot bookings at 5,000 per day, and directed that only 5,000 pilgrims per day may traverse the Kanana Patha. The Court directed the Travancore Devaswom Board to determine the carrying capacity of Sannidhanam and associated nodes.
On 21.11.2025, the Travancore Devaswom Board submitted a report detailing the approximate area measurements and green-zone capacity data for Nilakkal, Pamba, the trekking routes, and Sannidhanam. The Court emphasised that the capacity must remain in the safe zone. The Court, vide order dated 21-11-2025 permitted the Executive Officer and Chief Coordinator to make minor modifications to the cap only if inflow was low and only within green-zone limits.
The Court, in its order dated 27-11-2025, noted that data disclosed that 1,18,866 devotees reached Sannidhanam on 24-11-2025, far beyond the carrying capacity. The Court recorded the admitted issues of Fake booking passes, unreadable barcodes, groups where only some members held valid passes being allowed through and excessive build-up at Nilakkal and Pamba creating risks of “law-and-order situation,” “breakdown of infrastructure,” and “stampede-like situations”.
The Court noted that “there is no justification for permitting entry to any person who is unable to produce either a verifiable booking pass or the corresponding identification.” The Court stressed that facilities such as “water supply, sanitation, resting spaces, queue complexes, medical aid posts, and emergency-evacuation channels are designed to cater to the permitted cap only” and even a small excess imposes “extraordinary strain” on these systems.
The Court warned that overflow at transit points will paralyse vehicle movement, exhaust parking capacity, overstretch sanitation, food, water, and medical supply, create law-and-order situations, and force police to push crowds uphill, leading to “bottlenecks”, “destruction of regulated queue movement,” and “stampede-like situations, with catastrophic consequences.
In order to ensure that the pilgrim influx at Sannidhanam remains within the limits prescribed in our earlier orders, and bearing in mind that the carrying capacity of Sannidhanam is significantly lower than the present influx, the Court, vide order dated 27-11-2025, issued the following comprehensive directions for crowd management —
-
only persons with genuine Virtual-Q or spot-booking passes corresponding to date and time may allowed to enter Sannidhanam by the Chief Coordinator heading the police team and the Travancore Devaswom Board.
-
No person with a fake pass shall be permitted by the Police to trek from Pamba.
-
Persons holding slots for another date or time shall not be permitted entry.
-
Absolute and uncompromising adherence to the booking-slot system is mandatory and non-negotiable.
-
TDB must give wide and continuous publicity through Virtual-Q platform, print, electronic, and digital media, including SMS alerts.
The Court ordered that “the directions issued in the order dated 27-11-2025 shall continue for the time being.”
[In The Matter Of Travancore Devaswom Board – Sabarimala Special Commissioner Report – Sm.No.37/2025 – Regarding The Crowd Management During Mandalamakaravilakku Season 2025-2026, SSCR NO. 37 OF 2025, Decided on 03-12-2025]
*Judgment by Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V