Pathanamthitta, Saturday 26 December 2009: Mandalapuja will be held between 11.55 a.m. and 12.25 p.m. during Utchapuja at the Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala today.

The Tantri and the Melsanthi will perform the Mandalapuja and the Kalabhabhishekam. The temple will close after Athazhapuja in the evening, marking the culmination of the 41-day annual Mandalam festival.

The ceremonial procession carrying ‘Thanka Anki,’ sacred golden attire weighing 420 sovereigns, was accorded a rousing reception at Sabarimala on Friday.

The motorised chariot carrying the golden attire reached Pampa around 12.30 p.m. Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom volunteers, Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) officials and scores of devotees received the procession.

The Melsanthi at the Ganapati temple at Pampa performed ‘arati’ to the Ayyappa idol decorated with the Thanka Anki, which was kept on the temple premises for darshan.The Sanghom volunteers carried the golden attire, enclosed in a wooden box, to the Sabarimala Sannidhanam in a ceremonial procession in the afternoon.

The TDB officials received the Thanka Anki when the procession reached Saramkuthi. From there, it was escorted to the Sannidhanam to the accompaniment of traditional temple orchestra.

Devaswom Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran, Devaswom Chief Commissioner K. Jayakumar, Special Commissioner appointed by the Kerala High Court M. Rajendran Nair, Devaswom Commissioner P.V. Nalinakshan Nair and chief engineer K. Ravikumar received the golden attire when it was brought to the temple premises around 6.20 p.m.

(News agency)