Sabarimala (Kerala): Thousands of pilgrims participated and offered prayers at Lord Ayappa Temple for the auspicious Mandala Pooja performed at the Sabarimala temple here in the afternoon. This ceremony marked the culmination of the initial 41-day-long phase of the pilgrimage.
According to the official reports, 31,43,163 devotees had visited the Sabarimala temple and offered prayers and sought blessings until December 25th, during the pilgrimage season.
The idol of Lord Ayyappa was decorated with the 'thanka anki', the sacred golden attire brought to the Sannidhanam temple complex during the procession on Tuesday evening, marking the commencement of the Mandala Pooja in the afternoon. The head priest Kandararu Mahesh Mohanararu administered the rituals of adorning the idol with the sacred attire including the ceremonies of ‘Kalabhabhishekam’ and ‘Kalasabhishekam’.
Thousands of pilgrims from both within Kerala and from outside came to offer their prayers during this auspicious occasion by standing in queues for hours outside of Sannidhanam. After the Manadala Pooja the temple was closed and was reopened in the evening for the devotees to offer their prayers before the temple closing at night.
According to the Travancore Devaswam Board (TDB) sources, the shrine is to remain closed for the next three days and is set to reopen on 30th December and will remain open till 15th of January for the ‘Makaravilakku’ rituals. According to the sources, it was declared that the two-month-long annual pilgrimage will conclude and will later take place on the 15th of January at the hill shrine.
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