The Travancore Devaswom Board has made elaborate arrangements for the Thiruvabharanam procession from Pandalam to Sabarimala for the Makaravilakku festival on January 14.
The Pandalam Palace Managing Committee (PPMC) will hand over the Thiruvabharanam to TDB authorities at 4 a.m. on Wednesday. The sacred jewellery will be taken to the adjoining Valiyakoickal Sastha Temple and kept there for the devotees to have darshan till 12.15 p.m.
The Thiruvabharanam, ceremonial flag and puja materials will be kept in three wooden boxes. The temple priest will perform ‘aarathy' on the three wooden boxes. The sacred jewellery will be taken to Sabarimala in a ceremonial procession at 1 p.m.
Eldest member of the Pandalam royal family Ramavarma will hand over the ceremonial sword to the royal representative, P.R. Raghava Varma Raja of the Kaippuzha Panthaplavil palace, who will escort this year's Thiruvabharanam procession.
The procession will reach the Sannidhanam on January 14 afternoon. The Ayyappa idol will be decorated with the Thiruvabharanam prior to the deeparadhana.
The deeparadhana will be performed at 6.30 p.m. and the sighting of the celestial star Makara on the eastern horizon of the Sannidhanam and the bright flame, Makarajyoti, on a distant hillside will follow.
The sacred jewellery will be brought back to the Pandalam palace in a ceremonial procession after the culmination of the Makaravilakku festival on January 20.
