The treated teak wood to be installed as the temple mast at the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala was fixed to a specially prepared foundation on the temple premises on Friday.
The 12-metre wood was brought to the holy hillock on May 22.
A large number of Ayyappa devotees took part in the mission to carry the long, heavy wood on their shoulders to the Sannidhanam from the foothills of Pampa.
The wood was placed on a specially prepared stand till Friday morning for fixing it to the foundation at 9.40 a.m.
The Travancore Devaswom Board had hired skilled workers for fixing the wood to the stone foundation in a pit dug on the temple premises. They lifted the long wood with the help of a crane and it was carefully fixed to the stone.
An urn carrying gold, jewellery, and precious stones was kept in the pit as an offering to the deity.
Prayar Gopalakrishnan, TDB president, K.Raghavan, Ajay Tharayil, board members, C.P. Ramaraja Premaprasad, Devaswom Commissioner, and M.Manoj, Special Commissioner appointed by the Kerala High Court, were present. The Advocate Commission appointed by the High Court supervised the work.
Anniversary
The temple will be opened on June 3 afternoon for the idol installation anniversary to be celebrated on June 4.
The temple will be reopened on June 14 for the monthly rituals in the Malayalam month of Midhunom, which begins on June 15.
The temple will remain open for the preparatory rituals prior to the ceremonial installation of the holy mast followed by the 10-day festival.
Kodiyettu
The installation of the temple mast is scheduled for June 25. The Kodiyettu marking the ceremonial start of the 10-day temple festival will be held on June 28.
The festival will come to a close with the Arat ceremony in the Pampa on July 7 and the temple will be closed after Athazhapuja on June 7.
