The ceremonial procession carrying Thanka Anki, the sacred golden attire for Lord Ayyappa, will set off to Sabarimala from Sree Parthasarathy temple at Aranmula on Thursday morning.
An Ayyappa idol will be adorned with the golden attire for devotees to have darshan before the procession. The attire will be kept for darshan at the Aanakkottil of Sree Parthasarathy Temple from 4.30 a.m. to 6.50 a.m. on Thursday.
The Ayyappa idol, decorated with the golden attire, will be taken out in a ceremonial procession in a motorised chariot, modelled on the Ayyappa shrine, to Pampa and from there to the holy hillock in a specially made wooden box by Ayyappa Seva Sanghom volunteers on their head.
The procession will set off from Aranmula immediately after the Melsanthi performs the auspicious Arati at 7 a.m.
The procession, escorted by a team of Armed Police and Travancore Devaswom Board personnel, will halt at Sree Raktakanta Swami Temple at Omalloor, near Pathanamthitta, on Thursday evening. The procession will reach Muringamangalam temple, near Konni, on Friday evening and will halt at Sastha Temple at Perinad on Saturday evening.
The procession will reach Pampa on December 25 forenoon and from there it will be carried in a specially prepared wooden box to the Ayyappa temple in the afternoon.
The presiding deity at Sabarimala will be adorned with the golden attire prior to deeparadhana at 6.30 p.m.
Mandala puja, marking the culmination of the 41-day Mandalavrithom (penance) that constitutes the first phase of the annual pilgrimage at the Ayyappa temple, will be held on December 26.
The Ayyappa idol will be decorated with the attire prior to Utcha puja. Tantri (chief priest) Kandararu Rajeevararu, assisted by Melsanthi (head priest) Unnikrishnan Namboodiri, will perform the ritual amid Utcha puja.
The temple will be closed after Athazha puja at 11 p.m., marking the culmination of the 41-day Mandalam festival season.
The temple will reopen on December 30 afternoon for the Makarvilakku festival.
