Heavy Rush at Sabarimala For Makara Jyothi Dharshan today

Sabarimala, Jan 14: The holy hillock of Lord Ayyappa and the foothills of Pampa are being flocked by pilgirms as the "Makara Jyothi" will be celebrated today marking the finale of the two-month long pilgrim season of the hill shrine.

As security and crowd-management being prime concerns, senior police officials under Inspector General Arun Kumar Sinha met here yesterday to make foolproof arrangements for the occasion.

Hundreds of police personnel from the state and the central forces have been deployed around the temple complex uphill and along the trekking routes for continuous monitoring, official sources said.

Devotees had been urged not to climb onto trees in the forest or throng the parapets of buildings for a vantage view of the jyothi', a celestial light flickering across the eastern skies on the occasion of Makarasankranthi in the evening on January 14.

Officials of various other government departments also had joint meetings to review various aspects, including emergency medicare, sanitation and supply of essentials for pilgrims pouring in from different parts of the country.

An estimated 30 million devotees visited the shrine during the pilgrim season last year and, by preliminary reckoning, this was expected to go up this year.

The procession carrying holy jewels to be adorned on the idol of the Lord had set off from Pandalam, some 60 km from here, yesterday. It would reach the temple just before the 'makara Samkarama' pooja