SABARIMALA: In an atmosphere of religious fervour and ‘Swamiye Saranamayyappa’ reverberating in the air, thousands of devotees witnessed Makarajyothi, which marked the end of the Makaravilakku season, and had darshan at the Lord Ayyappa temple here on Friday.
The Makaravilakku ceremony, after adorning the Thiruvabharanam on the idol of Lord Ayyappa, was performed by thantri Mahesh Mohanaru in the presence of melsanthi Parameswaran Nampoothiri at 6.49pm. After the ceremony, Makarajyothi was visible for the devotees on the south-eastern sky of the temple at 6.55pm.
Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan, MLAs Pramod Narayan and K U Jenishkumar, Travancore Devaswom Board president K Ananthagopan, members Manoj Charalel and P M Thankappan, additional chief secretary (devaswom) and special commissioner M Manoj, devaswom commissioner B S Prakash, devaswom chief engineer Krishnakumar, Sabarimala devaswom executive officer Krishnakumara Warrier and administrative officer Sunilkumar attended the ceremony.
Earlier, the Thiruvabharanam procession from Pandalam was accorded a traditional reception on arrival in front of the golden flag mast at Sannidhanam under the leadership of the TDB president and members at 6.25pm.
Makarasamkrama pooja
Makarasamkrama pooja, the auspicious occasion of the Sun moving from ‘Dakshinayanam’ to ‘Utharayanam’, was performed at Lord Ayyappa temple at 2.29pm on Friday. As part of the ritual, the thantri performed ‘abhishekam’ with the ghee kept in the coconuts that were brought from Kowdiar palace, the ancestral home of the Travancore royal family, on the idol of Lord Ayyappa.
Malikappuram procession
The annual five-day procession carrying the ‘sreebali’ idol of the Malikappuram Devi began on Friday after the Makaravilakku ceremony at 8pm. On the first four days, the procession will be from Malikappuram temple to the front side of the Holy Steps and on the concluding day on January 18, the procession will go up to Saramkuthy.
Guruthi ritual on Jan 19
The annual ‘guruthi’ ritual, for the blessings of the hill gods, as part of the pilgrimage season will be held at Malikappuram at 10pm on January 19. The temple will be closed at 6am on January 20, marking the conclusion of the annual pilgrimage season with the ceremony as part of the return journey of the Thiruvabharanam procession to Pandalam.
Harivarasanam award function
Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan handed over the 10th Harivarasanam Award to singer and music director Alleppey Ranganath at a function here at 9am on Friday. Presenting the award, the minister said the government had extended maximum support and assistance to the devotees in the pilgrimage season. Under the Covid restrictions, the government opened the traditional trekking path of Neelimala-Appachimedu and Erumeli-Karimala-Valiyanavattom forest path to the devotees, he said. After the function, an orchestra performance was conducted by Alleppey Ranganath and his team.