SABARIMALA: Several thousand devotees on Thursday witnessed the Makaravilakku and Makarajyothi, the high point of the Mandala-Makara annual pilgrimage at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
The Makaravilakku ceremony, after adorning the sacred Thiruvabharanam on the idol of Lord Ayyappa, was performed under the leadership of thanthri Kandararu Rajeevaru in the presence of melsanthi Jayaraj Potti at 6.40pm.
Immediately afterwards, celestial star Makarajyothi appeared in the skies on the eastern horizon of the temple. N Vasu, Travancore Devaswam Board(TDB) president, members K S Ravi and V M Thankappan, devaswom commissioner B S Thirumeni, devaswom secretary K R Jyothilal, special commissioner Manoj, devaswom chief engineer Krishnakumar, Sabarimala devaswom executive officer Rajendra Prasad and assistant executive officer Gopakumar were present.
Earlier, the Thiruvabharanam procession was accorded a traditional reception at Saramkuthi at 5.30pm. The reception was held even as the tempo from the temple percussion instruments played by Ayyappaseva Sangham volunteers and artists added to the solemnity. As the procession made its way towards the golden flag mast of the Lord Ayyappa temple at 6pm, the TDB president and members received the Thiruvabharanam.
Makarasamkrama pooja
The auspicious time of the sun moving from ‘Dakshinayanam’ to ‘Utharayanam was performed at the Lord Ayyappa temple by thantri Rajeevaru at 8.14 am on Thursday. Hundreds of devotees witnessed Makarasamkrama pooja.
Playback singer Veeramani Raju was conferred the Harivarasanam award by Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran at a function held here at 9am. The customary five-day procession carrying the ‘Thidampu’ of Malikappuram Devi was taken out from Malikappuram temple to lower Thirumuttam in front of the 18 holy steps. It will conclude on January 18.
Kalabhabishekam ritual will be performed at the Lord Ayyappa temple on January 18. The ritual aimed at cooling the idol of Lord Ayyappa will be performed during Uchapooja by thantri Kandararu Rajeevaru in the presence of melsanthi Jayaraj Potti. The devotees will be allowed darshan during the ongoing pilgrimage season till 9pm on January 19.
Thiruvabharanam return procession
The Thiruvabharanam return procession will leave Lord Ayyappa temple for Pandalam at 6.30 am on January 20. The hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa will be closed at 7am on January 20 marking the conclusion of the 2020-2021 pilgrimage season.