Sabarimala: Friday was a quiet day at Sabarimala following the start of the Mandala season, with few devotees arriving in the morning. The valiyanadapanthal was largely deserted from 10 am, and those who did arrive quickly climbed the pathinettam padi.

As the early-morning crowd was less, devotees were allowed to have darshan directly without being routed through the flyover. Pilgrims also arrived via Pullumedu and the number of visitors from other states remained low.

A small crowd gathered in front of the appam-aravana counters. Devotees descended the hill after completing their neyyabhishekam and taking a brief rest. Light rain at around 4 pm did not cause any difficulties, and both Pampa and Nilakkal remained largely empty.

RAF deployment from Saturday

A 140-member RAF team will be

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