Marking the pinnacle of the two-months long annual pilgrimage season at Sabarimala, the Makaravilakku festival was celebrated on the hillock here on Monday evening in an atmosphere charged with devotion.
The devotees, who had been camping on the hillock for days, caught a glimpse of Makarajyoti, a celestial star that appeared on the eastern horizon and the deeparadhana performed atop the Ponnambalamedu hillock. The deity was adorned with the ‘thiruvabharanam’ (sacred jewellery) and the deeparadhana was performed at the Ayyappa temple here by 6.44 p.m.
The entire pilgrimage zone had been packed with people, most of whom had been camping here for the past few days. Rooftops of various buildings and hillsides facing the east and grasslands in the Sabarimala forests were also occupied by the devotees.
Prior to the ritual, Kulathinal Gangadharan Pillai, who headed a 26-member team carrying the sacred jewels from the Pandalam palace, handed over the jewellery boxes to the Tantri and the Melsanthi. Devaswom Minister K. Radhakrishnan, Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P. Prashanth and others were present on the occasion.
Devotion reached a feverish pitch when the deeparadhana was performed atop the Ponnambalamedu and the bright flame of Makaravilakku was sighted three times around 6.46 p.m. Besides those at the Sannidhanam, people took positions at the various vantage points around the Sabarimala hills to witness the light. The police had initiated elaborate security arrangements at all these locations.
Earlier in the day, the Makarasankrama puja was performed at the Ayyappa temple here at 2.46 a.m.
With the crowd on the hillock turning dense ahead of the Makaravilakku festival, the police had brought in strict crowd control measures and deployed additional force to streamline their return from the hillock. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation operated 800 buses to clear the Makaravilakku rush.
The annual pilgrimage season will draw to a close on January 21 morning, a day after performance of the Guruti ritual at Malikappuram. The devotees can have darshan in the temple till January 20.
According to TDB officials, the season has so far witnessed an unprecedented influx with over one lakh devotees ascending the hillock on most days during the two months long season. The neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana accounted for majority of the pilgrims this time.
