PATHANAMTHITTA: A month ahead of the start of the annual Mandala - Makaravilakku festival season, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on Thursday selected the new Melsanthis ( Chief Priests) of Lord Ayyappa Temple and Malikappuram Temple in Sabarimala.
S Arunkumar Nampoothiri of Narayaneeyam in Sakthikulangara, Kollam, was selected as the Melsanthi of the Ayyappa temple while Vasudevan Nampoothiri of Thirumangalam Illam, Pantheeramkavu, Kozhikode is the new Melsanthi of Malikappuram Devi Temple.
The final selection was held traditionally by drawing of lots held in front of the sanctum santorum on Thursday morning, the first day of the month of Thulam under the supervision of special commissioner P Jayakrishnan in the presence of TDB president P S Prasanth and other members. The two new melshanthis will be in charge for one year starting from November 16, which marks the beginning of the two-month-long pilgrimage season at the hill shrine.
As per tradition, two children from Pandalam Palace drew the lots in front of the Sreekovil.