Q Portal for Sabarimala Darsanm

 
Over 23,000 Sabarimala devotees have booked for the direct entry facility to the Nadapanthal in the past one week, using the Virtual Q Portal developed by Kerala Police.
The ‘virtual Q’ booking for Mandalakalam season from November 16 to December 26 began on October 16. During the last season, 7.43 lakh pilgrims used the Virtual Q Portal. This season, the high-capacity portal erected on the cloud computing infrastructure is expected to aid the virtual booking of 30-32 lakh pilgrims without any hassles.
Virtual Q portal helps pilgrims create a ‘slot’ by selecting a date and hour for their Sabarimala visit. “On the selected hour, they can arrive in Pampa and enter the queue directly at the Nadapanthal without waiting for long periods and inching forward in a long queue,” said ADGP P. Chandrasekhar who is in charge of security in Sabarimala.
To register a slot and generate a coupon, a pilgrim will have to create a profile first (details like name, PAN number, photo ID and ID number), and then select a booking slot. The Virtual-Q Coupon will contain the date and time of the darshan, as also the name and photograph of the pilgrim and the barcode.
“The barcode reader will project the photo ID of the pilgrim on the screens placed in front of the eight verification counters installed for the purpose at Pampa. This will help the police ensure that only pre-registered pilgrims are allowed through the Virtual Queue,” the ADGP said. “This year, the portal has been developed on the cloud computing system. This means that the system will not hang even if 10 lakh pilgrims log on simultaneously,” the ADGP said.
Last season, the booking system had gone haywire at least twice.