Marking the beginning of a two-month long annual pilgrimage season, the doors of the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala opened for the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival on Monday.
Outgoing head priest V.K. Jayaraj Potti opened the sanctum sanctorum in the presence of chief priest (Tantri) Kandararu Mahesh Mohanararu at 5 p.m. This was followed by the opening of the upadevata temples and transferring of the scared fire to the aazhi .
M. Manoj, Sabarimala Special Commissioner and District Judge, Kollam, was present on the occasion.
Later in the day, the installation of newly selected melsanthis for the Ayyappa temple and the Malikappuram Devi temple—N. Parameswaran Naboothiri and Sambhu Namboothiri—was performed. The new melsanthis will hold charge of their respective temples for the next one year.
The Mandalapooja festival this year is from November 16 to December 26 while the temple will reopen for the Makaravilakku festival from December 30 to January 20 next year.
The devotees, who have booked for darshan through the virtual queue system, will be permitted entry to the hill shrine from Tuesday morning onwards. After the Makaravilakku festival on January 14, the temple will be closed on January 20.
As many as 680 police officers led by Special Officer A. Prem Kumar has been deployed across the pilgrimage zone. Officials said the police deployment see a rise in line with the increasing pilgrim footfalls.
Besides the police, 76 CCTV cameras too have been installed across the region.
The two month-long season, which used to attract millions of devotees every year till 2019-20, is being carried out under strict COVID-19 guidelines this time. Authorities have already issued an advisory to ensure strict compliance by pilgrims to health protocols while visiting the hill shrine to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The number of booking slots in the virtual queue system is limited at 30,000 per day, which may be increased further with the easing pandemic situation. The pilgrimage season last year was scaled back drastically in view of the raging pandemic with the total number of visitors limited to less than one lakh.
