Hundreds of devotees thronged the Kakkattu-koickal Sree Dharma Sastha temple at Perinad, near Vadasserikkara, to worship Thiruvabharanam, the sacred jewellery of Ayyappa, brought back from Sabarimala on Wednesday.
The presiding deity at Kakkatu-koickal temple is also adorned with the Thiruvabharanam every year when the jewellery is taken back to Pandalam
after the Makaravilakku festival at Sabarimala.
It is believed that the king of the erstwhile Pandalam royal dynasty, Rajashekhaa Varma, had stayed at the Perinad temple to monitor the construction work on the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala centuries ago. The procession carrying the Thiruvabharanam was accorded a reception on its arrival at Perinad.
The presiding deity was decorated with the sacred jewellery at 2 p.m. and the Melsanthi performed the ‘aarati’.
Women devotees
Hundreds of women devotees from the neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka too have reached Perinad to worship the Thiruvabharanam. The temple will be kept open till 2 a.m. on Thursday for the devotees to have darshan.
The procession will proceed to Aranmula later in the morning. The royal entourage will stay back at Aranmula on Thursday night and the sacred jewellery will be taken back to the Srambickal Palace at Pandalam on Friday morning.
