SABARIMALA: Thousands of devotees witnessed the ‘arattu’ of Lord Ayyappa in the Pampa river at the Arattukadavu in front of Lord Ganapathi temple at 11 am on Wednesday.
Thantri Kandararu Rajivaru performed the ‘arattu’ ceremony along with melsanthi Vishnu Nampoothiri by dipping in the river three times by holding the Sreebali idol of Lord Ayyappa. After performing poojas and ritually applying turmeric powder on the idol, ‘manjaneerattu’ was performed by dipping in the river another four times.
The arattu ceremony concluded with the performance of ‘arati’ on the idol.
Thantri Rajivaru distributed ‘manjal prasadam’ to the devotees who gathered there.
After the ‘arattu’ ceremony, the Sreebali idol was taken to the specially-arranged location in front of the Lord Ganapathi temple for darsan by the devotees. Hundreds of ‘para’ offerings were made by the devotees.
Travancore Devaswom Board president C K Guptan, members P Narayanan and Sumathikuttiamma, Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangham president Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, Devaswom Commissioner P V Nalinakshan Nair, special commissioner M Rajendran Nair, Devaswom chief engineer Ravikumar, Sabarimala executive officer P R Balachandran Nair, administrative officer Santhoshkumar, Pampa administrative officer Abu and Devaswom executive engineer Narayanan Nambeesan were among those who witnessed the `arattu’ ceremony.
Reception to `arattu’ procession: The ‘arattu’ procession, carrying the Thidambu of Lord Ayyappa on a caparisoned elephant, was accorded a traditional reception on its arrival at Pampa earlier at 10.45 a.m.
Temple closed: The hill-shrine of Lord Ayyappa was closed, marking the conclusion of the 10-day annual festival, after special ritual in connection with ‘arattu’, ‘deeparadhana’, ‘kodiyiraku’, ‘athazha pooja’ and Harivarasanam at 10.30 pm. Temple reopening: The temple will reopen for Vishu festival on April 10 evening. ‘Vishukani darsan’: The Vishukani darsan for devotees will be allowed between 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. on April 14.