Pathanamthitta, Wednesday, August 10, 2011: The Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala will open for monthly pujas at 5.30pm on August 16.

On the first day of Chingam, the first month of the Malayalam New Year, Laksharchana will be held at Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple, Sabarimala executive officer M Satheesh Kumar said.

A Travancore Devasom Board release issued here on Tuesday said special pujas like ‘Padi Puja’ and ‘Udayasthamana Puja’ will be held in addition to ‘Ganapathy Homam’, “Usha Puja”, ‘Utcha Puja’, and ‘Athazha Puja’ between August 17 and 21.

The temple will be closed at 10pm on August 21 and be opened for Onam pujas on September 7.