Sabarimala, Thursday 30 December 2010: The Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala was reopened for the Makaravilakku festival on Thursday afternoon. Hundreds of pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu who have reached Sabarimala, unaware that the temple would be closed for two days after the Mandalam festival, had been camping at Pampa.

The Fire & Rescue Services personnel and workers attached to the Travancore Devaswom Board cleaned the temple premises on Wednesday. Ezhikode Sasi Namboodiri, head priest (Melsanthi), opened the sanctum sanctorum at 5.30 p.m.

The rituals began after chief priest (Tantri) Kandararu Rajeevaru performs Ganapati homam on Friday morning. The Sabarimala Sanitation Society completed its two-day cleaning drive at the Sannidhanam and Pampa on Wednesday.

The annual Makaravilakku festival will be celebrated on January 14. The Thiruvabharanam procession will reach the Sannidhanam through the traditional path via Valiyanavattom and Saramkuthi by 6.30 p.m. The deity will be adorned with the sacred jewels prior to the deeparadhana at the Ayyappa Temple at 6.40 p.m.

Makarajyoti, a celestial star, will rise on the eastern horizon of the Sannidhanam, followed by the flickering of a bright flame thrice on a distant hilltop after the Deeparadhana. A Kalabhabhishekom marking the culmination of the Neyyabhishekom offering during the Makaravilakku festival will be performed prior to the Utchapuja on January 18.

The Guruti ritual to propitiate the ‘Bhoothagana’ of Lord Ayyappa will be performed at Malikappuram on January 19 evening. The Ayyappa temple will be closed after the exclusive customary holy darshan by the royal representative at 7 a.m. on January 20.

(News agency)