The Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala will be opened on Tuesday afternoon for the annual Niraputhari celebrations on Wednesday morning.
Melsanthi (head priest) V.N. Vasudevan Namboodiri will open the sanctum sanctorum at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The rituals will begin with the Tantri performing Ashtadravya Ganapati homom on Wednesday morning.
Tantri Kandararu Rajeevararu, assisted by the Melsanthi and other priests, will perform the Niraputhari rituals in the auspicious muhurthom between 5.45 a.m. and 6.15 a.m. on Wednesday.
The Chittur branch of the Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom (ABASS) in Palakkad will offer fresh paddy spikes for the annual Niraputhari celebrations.
Talking to The Hindu , R.Krishnakumar of the sanghom unit at Chittur said that they have been cultivating paddy specially for the Niraputhari celebrations at Sabarimala and 50 other temples, including the Guruvayur Sreekrishna temple, for the past 12 years.
Nenmeni
According to Mr. Krishnankumar, the paddy grown in the fields of Nenmeni-Chuttiyarakkalom, near Kollangode, have been cut in the presence of former Sabarimala Melsanthi (head priest) S.E.Sankaran Namboodiri. A group of 70 Sanghom volunteers would take the bunches of paddy spikes to Sabarimala on Tuesday.
From Achencoil
The Travancore Devaswom Board will bring fresh paddy spikes from Achencoil for the Niraputhari celebrations.
Devaswom Executive Officer D.Sudheeshkumar, told The Hindu that the board has made elaborate arrangements for taking the paddy spikes in a ceremonial vehicular procession to Sabarimala on Tuesday.
The procession carrying the paddy spikes will reach Pampa in the afternoon and the devotees will carry the paddy spikes on their head from there to the holy hillock of Sabarimala Sannidhanam later. The temple will be closed after Athazhapuja on Wednesday.
