Pathanamthitta, Wednesday 13 January 2010: Thousands of people thronged Pandalam in the district as the Thiruvabharanam procession set off for Sabarimala from the Valiyakoickal Sastha temple in the town on Tuesday. The sacred jewellery will reach the Sannidhanam in time for Makaravilakku tomorrow.

The ornaments were shifted from the strong room of the Pandalam Palace to the temple at 4.30 a.m. and devotees had darshan of these till 12.30 p.m. Twenty persons, headed by Kulathinal Gangadharan Pillai, are taking turns carrying on their head the ornaments kept in three wooden boxes.

The temple Melsanthi (head priest) had performed special rituals at the Sastha temple before closing the boxes. Soon, a Brahminy kite (Krishnaparunthu) soared into the sky, above the sanctum sanctorum, as is the custom. It was the signal for P. Ramavarma Raja, 90, eldest male member of the Pandalam royal family, to hand over the ceremonial sword to Venugopala Varma Raja, royal representative escorting the jewellery, marking the start of the procession around 1 p.m. Devaswom Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran, K.K. Shaju and K.C. Rajagopal, MLAs, and K. Jayakumar, Chief Commissioner, Travancore Devaswom Board, were present.

Following an age-old custom, the royal representative was taken in a palanquin up to the Kaippuzha Palace in the nearby village of Kulanada on the opposite bank of the Achenkovil river to seek the blessings of the eldest female member of the royal family there, before proceeding to Sabarimala. The devotees accorded rousing receptions to the procession at various places before it reached the Puthiyakavu Devi temple at Ayroor, near the banks of the Pampa, later in the afternoon.

The procession will resume today morning and will halt at Laha Sathram, near Plappally, on the Mannarakulanji-Chalakkayam main trunk road leading to Sabarimala on Wednesday night. The procession will reach Valiyanavattom, near Pampa, tomorrow afternoon and the royal representative will stay back in Pampa for two days. The Devaswom authorities and the Ayyappa Seva Sanghom volunteers will receive the procession on its arrival at the Sannidhanam by 6 p.m. tomorrow.

Tantri (chief priest) Kandararu Maheswararu, assisted by head priest G. Vishnu Namboodiri, will adorn the Ayyappa idol with the jewellery prior to Deeparadhana at 6.30 p.m., when Makarajyoti will flicker thrice on a remote hillside and the celestial star Makara will rise on the eastern horizon of the Sannidhanam. Thousands of Ayyappa devotees have started camping at the Sannidhanam to see the Makarajyoti.

The royal representative will reach the holy hillock on Saturday and will supervise the Kalabhabhishekom prior to Utchapuja on Monday, marking the culmination of Neyyabhishekom during the Makaravilakku festival.
The Guruti ritual will be held at Malikappuram after the closing of the sanctum sanctorum on Tuesday evening.

The Ayyappa temple will be closed immediately after the customary exclusive darshan by the royal representative around 7.15 a.m. on Wednesday. The Thiruvabharanam will be brought back to the Pandalam Palace on January 23.

(News agency)