SABARIMALA: The 41-day mandala season began at Lord Ayyappa temple here on Thursday with new melsanthi A V Unnikrishnan Nampoothiri opening the sreekovil at 3 am in the presence of thantri Mahesh Mohanaru. Travancore Devaswom Board president A Padmakumar, former president Prayar Gopalakrishnan, member Sankaradas, devaswom commissioner C P Ramaraja Prema Prasad, special commissioner Manoj and Sabarimala devaswom executive officer Chandrasekharan were present on the occasion.
After Nirmalya darshan, neyyabhishekam was performed on the idol of the lord by the thantri in the presence of the melsanthi, followed by Ganapathi homam offering at the mandapam. A long queue of pilgrims was witnessed for darshan of the lord when the sreekovil was opened at 3 am. A long queue was witnessed for performing neyyabhishekam.Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran inaugurated the ‘Punyam Poonkavanam’ programme, the cleaning initiative under the leadership of voluntary organisations, including the Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangham and police personnel, at the north nada of the temple at 9 am. The Devaswom Board president, members K Raghavan and K P Sankaradas were present.
The Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangham (ABASS) began free food distribution on Thursday, following the order of the Kerala High Court. Hundreds of pilgrims were served food at the hall of the ABASS at the Sannidhanam when the programme was launched at 7 am. ABASS general secretary Velayudhan Nair, vice-president D Vijayakumar and Thanjavur Damaodaran were present.