SABARIMALA: The hill shrine in Sabarimala will be opened on Friday for the annual Mandala-Makaravilakku season.
Melsanthi Mahesh Nampoothiri will open the Sreekovil at 5 pm in the presence of Thantri Kandararu Brahmadathan. The installation ceremony of Sabarimala new melsanthi S Arunkumar Nampoothiri will be performed in front of the Sreekovil at 6 pm. As part of the ceremony, the thantri will perform kalasabhishekam on the new melsanthi. After that, the thantri will lead the new melsanthi to the Sreekovil to pass on the “moolamantram” of the deity in his ear.
Similar installation ceremony of new melsanthi of Malikppuram temple will be held in front of the sreekovil of Malikappuram temple at 7 pm.
The key-handing over ceremony will be held in front of the Sreekovil at 10 pm. At the ceremony, the key of the Lord Ayyappa temple will be handed over to new melsanthi Arunkumar Nampoothiri by the outgoing melsanthi Mahesh Nampoothiri after the closure of the sreekovil.
The new melsanthi will open the Sreekovil at 3 am on Saturday, marking the beginning of the 41-day Mandala Pooja season, the first phase of the annual pilgrimage season.
The Mandala Pooja season will conclude on December 26 , with the adoration of Thanka Anki, the golden ornaments brought from Aranmula temple at 12.30 pm during uchcha pooja and Harivarasanam at 11 pm. The second and concluding phase of the pilgrimage season will begin on December 30 and conclude with the closure of the temple at 6 am on January 20, 2025.
18-hour darshan
With the overall objective of reducing hardships of devoteees, the darshan time for devotees will be extended to 18 hours during the upcoming pilgrimage season. As part of the enhanced darshan timing, the temple will open at 3 am and darshan will continue till 1 pm. In the afternoon, the Sreekovil will open at 3 pm and will remain open till 11 pm.