SABARIMALA: Preparations are complete for the Makaravilakku ceremony slated to be held at the Lord Ayyappa temple on Sunday. Lakhs of pilgrims thronged Sannidhanam ahead of the Makarajyothi and Makaravilakku ceremonies, which will be held after the Thiruvabharanam is adorned on the Lord’s idol during deeparadhana at 6.30 pm on Sunday. The auspicious Makarasamkrama pooja, to mark the changing of the moon from Dhanuraasi to Makararaasi, will be held at the Sreekovil at 1.47 am.
Tantri Mahesh Mohanaru will perform the pooja, including the customary breaking of the “neythenga” (coconut filled with ghee) brought from the Travancore palace and pouring of the ghee on Lord Ayyappa’s idol. After the abhishekam, the ghee will be distributed to devotees as prasadam. The procession carrying the Thiruvabharanam, originating from Pandalam Valiyakoikkal Sree Dharma Sastha temple, will be given a reception at Saramkuthi by a team led by Sabarimala devaswom executive officer V N Chandrasekharan at 5.30 pm.
The devaswom team will lead the procession to Sopanam. On arrival in front of the Sreekovil at 6 pm, a traditional reception will be accorded to the Thiruvabharanam procession by Travancore Devaswom Board president A Padmakumar and members. After the reception, the Thiruvabharanam will be brought to the Sreekovil and the tantri and melsanthi will receive it and deeparadhana will be performed after adorning the golden attire on Lord Ayyappa’s idol.