The Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala will be opened for the Makaravilakku festival on Friday afternoon.
Hundreds of devotees from different parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu who have reached Sabarimala, unaware of the closing of the temple for two days after the Mandalam festival, are camping at Pampa and Nilackal.
The Fire and Rescue Force personnel and workers attached to the Travancore Devaswom Board are engaged in cleaning the temple premises for the Makaravilakku festival.
Head priest ( melsanthi ) T.M. Unnikrishnan Namboodiri will open the sanctum sanctorum at 5 p.m. on Friday.
Rituals will begin with chief priest ( tantri ) Kandararu Rajeevararu performing ‘Ganapati homam’ on Friday morning followed by the ‘Ashtabhishekom’ and ‘Ushapooja’.
The Sabarimala Sanitation Society has completed its two-day cleaning drive at the Sannidhanam and Pampa on Wednesday.
‘Petta-thullal’
The ceremonial ‘Petta-thullal’ by the Ambalappuzha and the Alangad groups will be held at Erumeli on January 11.
The ceremonial procession carrying the sacred jewellery, ‘Thiruvabharanam’, of the presiding deity at the Ayyappa temple, will set off to Sabarimala from the Valiyakoickal Sastha Temple at Pandalam on January 12.
The annual Makaravilakku festival will be celebrated on January 14.
