The holy hillock of Sabarimala has been turned into a beehive of activities with hardly 18 hours left for the opening of Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala for the two-month-long annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage.
Outgoing Melsanthi Ezhikode Sasi Namboodiri will open the sanctum sanctorum at 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday for the 41-day Mandalam festival that begins on Thursday, the first day in the Malayalam month of Vrischikom.
The temple rituals will begin with senior Tantri (chief priest) Kandararu Maheswararu performing the Ashtadravya Ganapati Homom on Thursday morning.
Darshan timings
The Travancore Devaswom Board has extended the daily darshan time at the Ayyappa temple by three-and-a-half hours during the pilgrimage season in view of the heavy pilgrim influx expected during the period.
As per the new time schedule, the temple will be kept open for a total of 19 hours and 15 minutes every day, according to devaswom executive officer Sathishkumar.
The temple will be opened at 3 a.m. for Nirmalya darshan and closed after the Utchapuja at 1 p.m. The temple will reopen at 2.30 p.m. to close after the Athazhapuja at 11.45 p.m.
Mandalapuja
The Mandalapuja, marking the culmination of the 41-day Mandalam Pilgrimage, will be held along with the Utchapuja on December 27. The temple will be closed after the Athazhapuja.
Makaravilakku
The Ayyappa temple will be opened on December 30 afternoon for the
Makaravilaku festival.
The famous Pettathullal at Erumeli will be held on January 11 and the procession carrying the Thiruvabharanam will set off to Sabarimala from Pandalam on January 12.
The Makarvilakku festival on the Makara-Samkranthi day falls on January 15. The temple will be closed after the customary exclusive holy darshan by the royal representative from Pandalam Palace on January 20 morning, marking the culmination of the annual Makaravilakku festival.
Aravana stock
The executive officer told The Hindu that the buffer stock of Aravana at Sabarimala had crossed 25 lakh cans (250 ml each) by Tuesday afternoon.
The Appam stock had also crossed nine lakh packets, he said.
Mr. Satishkumar said the TDB had set up a six-member Appam-Aravana sales counter near Malikappuram too, besides the 12-member Prasadom complex at the Lower Tirumuttom so that the pilgrims returning from the Sannidhanam through the newly constructed exit route could collect the prasadom en route itself, he said.
Pilgrims camps
Meanwhile, pilgrims began to pour in to Sabarimala from different parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Monday afternoon since the pat two days. A good number of pilgrims are camping at Pampa and the Sannidhanam awaiting the temple opening on Wednesday.
Installation
The ceremonial installation (Abhishekom) of the new Sabarimala Melsanthi, N. Balamurali, will be held at the Ayyappa temple sopanam on Wednesday evening. The Tantri will perform the Abhishekom by pouring the holy water over the new Melsanthi and initiating him the Moolamantra, taking him to the sanctum sactorum, later.
The installation of the new Malikappuram Melsanthi, Eeswaran Namboodiri, will be held at the Devi temple sopanam, later.
