The Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala was opened at 5 p.m. on Tuesday for the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival that begins on the first day in the Malayalam month of Vrischikom on Wednesday.
E.S.Sankaran Namboodiri, outgoing Melsanthi, accompanied by Tantri Kandararu Rajeevararu, opened the sanctum sanctorum.
There was heavy rush of pilgrims on Tuesday afternoon as hundreds from different parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka had caped at Pampa and Sannidhanam for the past two days.
The Tantri performed the ritualistic installation of the new Melsanthi at the Ayyappa Temple, T.M. Unnikrishnan Namboodiri of Cherpulasserry Thekumparambathu Mana at a customary function held at the temple sopanam at 6.30 p.m.
Installation of the new Melsanthi at the Malikappurm Devi Temple, Manu Namboodiri of Puthumana Illom at Vazhappally, was also held, later.
Ajay Tharayil, TDB member; P.R. Raman, Devaswom Ombudsman; M. Manoj, Special Commissioner appointed by the Kerala High Court; C.P. Ramaraja Prema Prasad, Devaswom Commissioner; and V.S. Jayakumar, TDB Secretary, were present on the occasion.
The sanctum sanctorum will be opened at 3 a.m. on Wednesday.
Mathew T. Thomas, Water Resources Minister; Kadakampally Surendran, Devaswom Minister; Prayar Gopalakrishnan, TDB president; R. Raghavan, Board member, are also camping at Sabarimala.
Mandalapuja
The Mandalapuja will be performed at the Ayyappa Temple during the Utchapuja on December 26 and the Ayyappa Temple will be closed after the Athazhapuja, later in the evening, marking the culmination of the 41-day Mandalam festival season.
