Sabarimala temple closed after monthly pujas

Tantri performs Padipuja, special rituals

RELIGIOUS RITUAL:Tantri Kandararu Mahesh Mohanararu performing the auspicious Padipuja before the gold-covered Pathinettampady at Sabarimala Sannidhanam on Sunday.

The five-day rituals in the Malayalam month of Midhunom came to a close with the Athazhapuja at the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala on Sunday evening.

The Tantri, Kandararu Mahesh Mohanararu, assisted by the Melsanthi, E.S.Sankaran Namboodiri, performed the Sahasrakalasabhishekom and Kalabhabhishekom prior to the Utchapooja at the Ayyappa shrine.

A large number of devotees from different parts of South India worshipped the auspicious Padipooja ritual performed by the Tantri before the gold-covered holy 18-steps (Pathinettampady) after the Deeparadhana in the evening.

Pusphpabhishekom, Ashtabhishekom, and Udayasthamanapuja, were the other important rituals performed at the Ayyappa shrine on Sunday. The melsanthi, accompanied by other priests, closed the sanctum sanctorum, singing the sacred lullaby, ‘Harivarasanam, viswamohanom…,’ in the presence of the Tantri and Devaswom officials, marking the culmination of the five-day monthly rituals in the evening.