Aadhaar must for Sabarimala spot booking

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has clarified that Aadhaar card, or a copy, is mandatory for spot booking of darshan at the hill shrine in Sabarimala. The board has also banned the use of mobile phones around the shrines of Lord Ayyappa and Goddess Malikappurathamma during the upcoming Mandala-Makaravilakku season.

These were announced by TDB president P S Prasanth and members A Ajikumar and G Sundaresan at a press meet in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. This time, TDB has renamed spot booking as “entry point booking”.

“This is because it is different from the previous year’s spot booking where details of just one person in a group was recorded while granting passes. This year, every person has to provide Aadhaar number or ID proofs like passport or voter’s card,” the TDB president said.