Sabarimala, Wednesday, January 11, 2012: Unexpected heavy rain in Sabarimala on Tuesday evening gave pilgrims a hard time, particularly on the Pamba - Sannidhanam stretch.

Most pilgrims, who climb the hill, usually stay at Sannidhanam for the Makaravilakku darshan. But unfortunately for them, Sannidhanam does not have a pilgrim shelter anymore as the Maramath were ordered to demolish it after the last pilgrim season.

The shelters were removed to make way for the proposed Sabarimala Master Plan, which has , however, not got off the ground yet for lack of funds.

In the absence of the shelter the pilgrim groups with children and old women suffered the most as they could do little to escape the downpour.

The ongoing construction work on the Marakoottam stretch which led to stagnation of rain water on the roads, made it worse for the barefoot pilgrims who found it harder to climb the hill.

(News agency)