With a day left for the culmination of the five-day monthly rituals in the Malayalam month of Kumbhom, the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala continued to witness heavy rush on Monday as hundreds of devotees from different parts of south India undertook the pilgrimage to the forest shrine.
Tantri Kandararu Maheshwararu Mohanararu, assisted by Melsanthi E.S. Sankaran Namboodiri, performed the Kalabhapuja at the Namaskara mandapam in the forenoon.
The Sabhasrakalasapuja was performed at the northern Mandapam.
The golden urns carrying the Kalabhom (sandal paste) and Brahmakalasom were taken out in a procession to the sanctum sanctorum, with the accompaniments of the sacred Marappani and the traditional temple percussion. The sandal paste was poured over the Ayyappa idol prior to the Utchapuja (rituals at noon) and the kalabhom offered to the deity was distributed as prasadom (offering) among the devotees, later.
Padipooja, Udayasthamanapooja, Ashtabhishekom and Pushpabhishekom were the other rituals performed at the Ayyappa shrine on Monday.
The temple will be closed after the Athazhapuja on Tuesday, marking the culmination of the five-day monthly rituals.
The temple will be opened again on March 13 afternoon for the monthly rituals in the Malayalam month of Meenom that begins the next day.
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