SABARIMALA: Preparations were completed for Makaravilakku ceremony and Makarajyothi darshan at Lord Ayyappa temple here that will be observed on Friday. Addressing mediapersons here on Thursday, Travancore Devaswom Board president K Ananthagopan said that adequate facilities have been made available for devotees.
As per the prevailing conditions, an estimated 70,000 pilgrims would be present for the ceremony and Makarajyothi darshan. He said the Thiruvabharanam procession would reach Sannidhanam at 6pm after a traditional reception at Saramkuthi at 5.30pm. Deeparadhana would be performed after adorning the Thiruvabharanam on the idol of Lord Ayyappa at 6.45pm.
Harivarasanam awards
Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan would hand over the annual Harivarasanam award to Alleppey Ranganath at a function here at 8am on Friday. Ranni MLA Pramod Narayan will preside over the function. Additional Chief Secretary (Devaswom) K R Jyothilal, former Chief Secretary and award selection committee chairman K Jayakumar and K Ananthagopan will speak. The award carries a cash prize of `1 lakh and a citation. After the ceremony, Alleppey Ranganath would conduct an orchestra. Orchestra by Tamil playback singer Veeramani will be held in the evening.
Total revenue at Rs 128 crore
The TDB president said the total revenue during the 59-day ongoing pilgrimage season till January 12 was Rs 128 crore. The revenue during the 2019-2020 pilgrimage season was Rs 269 crore, he said. Ananthagopan said the backlog regarding the counting of coins would be cleared in the next 10 days. He said a total of 321 employees, including the temporary staff of devaswom, were deployed to count the notes and coins donated by the devotees.
The TDB chief said a total of 16.86 lakh devotees offered darshan till January 12 of the ongoing pilgrimage season. The highest number of pilgrim arrivals was 52,000 on January 9. Ananthagopan said the TDB would be ready to manage the virtual queue booking system for darshan if allowed. The devaswom would have the requisite mechanism to handle the system at present, he said.