SABARIMALA: “Guruthi” ritual, the annual offering held for the blessings of the Hill Gods of Lord Ayyappa, was conducted at Malikappuram near Lord Ayyappa temple here on Monday.
The ritual was conducted under the leadership of Ajayakumar of Angadi in Ranni, the head of the family which conducts the pooja for the past three generations, after the closure of the temple at 10 pm.
The hour-long ritual marked one of the concluding poojas of the two-month long pilgrimage season.
The facility for the pilgrims for ‘darsan’ of Lord Ayyappa concluded at 10 pm with the closure of the Sreekovil.
Though the temple will be opened at 5 am on Tuesday, ‘darsan’ will be allowed only for the representative of the Pandalam Valiyaraja, who offers customary worship at the temple at 7 am. The Sreekovil will be closed immediately after the darsan of the Pandalam Raja. The Thiruvabharanam procession will mark the beginning of the return journey after the customary key handing-over ceremony in front of the Holy Steps at 7.30 pm.
The three-day return journey carrying the Thiruvabharanam from Sabarimala to Pandalam Valiyakoickal Temple will begin at 7.30 am. The hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa will be reopened for the five-day monthly poojas for the Malayalam month of Kumbhom on February 13 evening.