Sabarimala (Kerala): The Lord Ayyappa temple in Kerala's Sabarimala opened its doors on Tuesday evening for the five-day monthly worship ritual to mark the Malayalam month of 'Idavam'.
V N Vasudevan Namboothiri, the chief priest of the temple, opened the sanctum sanctorum of the hill shrine in the presence of 'tantri' Kandararu Rajeevaru.
Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar, board member K P Sankardas, Sabarimala Special Commissioner and district judge Manoj were among those present to witness the ceremony.
A large number of Lord Ayyappa devotees climbed the sacred 18 steps and offered prayers on the initial day, said a TDB release.
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The shrine would witness only customary pujas and rituals, including 'neyyabhishekam', 'kalabhabhishekam' and 'padi puja' over the next five days, the release stated further.
The shrine would again be closed on May 19.
Kerala had witnessed massive protests by Lord Ayyappa devotees opposing the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the Sabarimala temple since the CPI(M)-LDF government decided to implement the Sept 28 Supreme Court order allowing women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa shrine.
On September 28 last year, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice Dipak Misra, lifted the centuries-old ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.
