Sabarimala pilgrims allowed to carry coconuts in cabin baggage in flights

New Delhi: Pilgrims going to Sabarimala temple in Kerala will be allowed to carry coconuts in the cabin baggage of flights till January 20, 2025, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Saturday.

The two-month-long Sabarimala pilgrimage season will start in mid-November.

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has given permission to pilgrims to carry coconuts in their cabin baggage for a limited period.

Under existing norms, coconuts are not permitted in the cabin baggage on the grounds that they are flammable.

Naidu on Saturday said that to facilitate the ease of travel for Sabarimala pilgrims, an exemption has been given for “carrying coconuts in ‘Irumudi’ as cabin baggage during the Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage period”.

The order will be in effect until January 20, 2025, with all necessary security checks in place, he said in a post on X.

Coconuts will be allowed to be carried in the cabin only after requisite X-Ray, ETD (Explosive Trace Detector) and physical checks.

The Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala will open for the two-month long pilgrimage season in mid-November and the pilgrimage season will go on till late January.

Lakhs of devotees visit the hill shrine every year and the majority of them carry ‘Irumudi Kettu’ (the sacred bag containing offerings, including coconut filled with ghee, to the Lord).

Generally, those undertaking the pilgrimage to Sabarimala prepare and pack ‘Irumudi Kettu’ as part of the ‘Kettunirakal’ ritual.

During the ritual, ghee is filled inside a coconut, which is then kept in the bag along with other offerings. The bag would also have few ordinary coconuts to be broken at various holy spots during the pilgrimage.

Only those pilgrims who carry the ‘Irumudi Kettu’ on their head are allowed to climb the 18 sacred steps to reach the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Those not carrying it have to take a different passage to reach the sanctum sanctorum.