The hill abode of Lord Ayyappa here was opened for the five-day monthly poojas for the Malayalam month of Karkidakom on Sunday evening.
Melsanthi G Balamurali opened the Sreekovil of the temple at 5.30 p m in the presence of Thantri Kandararu Maheswararu.
Sabarimala Devaswom executive officer Sanakaranarayana Pillai said that laksharchana would be held on the first day of the Malayalam month of Karkidakom on Monday. “Sahasrakalasam and kalabhabhishekam would be the other special rituals to be conducted during the five days,” Sankaranarayana Pillai said.
“Udayasthamana pooja, pushpabhishekam and padi pooja would be the other rituals to be held on all the five days,” he said. The temple would be closed on July 20 evening after five days of monthly poojas.
Heavy rush of pilgrims was witnessed at the Lord Ayyappa Temple when the shrine was opened for the monthly poojas.There was a long queue of pilgrims, majority of them from neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Karanataka, for darsan.