Onam was celebrated with traditional fervour at Sabarimala on Monday. Hundreds of devotees partook of the Onasadya (feast) held at the Sannidhanam soon after the utchapuja.
Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru, accompanied by Melsanthi G. Vishnu Namboodiri and Devaswom executive officer V.S.Jayakumar, inaugurated the feast by serving the dishes on a plantain leaf kept before a ceremonial lamp at the sadya hall.
Manikantadas from Chittar, whose family has been offering the Onasadya at Sabarimala for the past five decades, hosted the feast at the Sannidhanam on Monday. The priests were given new clothes (Onakkodi) on Thiruvonam.
A devotee from Kuwait will offer the feast on Tuesday (Avittom) and the Devaswom staff will host the feast on Wednesday (Chathayam).
Sahasrakalasabhishekom, Padipuja, Pushpabhishekom and Udayasthamanapuja were the special rituals performed at the Ayyappa Temple on Monday.
The Onam festival at Sabarimala will come to a close on Wednesday and the Melsanthi will close the sanctum sanctorum with the sacred lullaby, Harivarasanam, after the Athazhapuja in the evening.