Sabarimala: Deccan Chronicle’s help desk-cum-stall was inaugurated on the banks of Pamba at the foot of the Sabarimala shrine on Friday.
Neyyattinkara S. Unnikrishnan Namboothiri, high priest at Pamba Ganapathy Temple, lit the lamp as hundreds of devotees, a large number of them from the southern States, were in long queue carrying offerings in small bundles on heads and chanting, Swamiye Ayyappa.
DC help desk gives information on timings, offering and accommodation to pilgrims besides updating pilgrims with regular supply of DC publications.
The first leg of the pilgrimage, the 41-day “Mandala” phase, will culminate in the Mandala pooja on December 26. It will be followed by “Makaravilakku” with the “Jyothi darshan” as its highpoint on January 14.
The holy hillock is witnessing the seasonal influx from neighbouring states.
Pilgrims converge at the holy Pamba, before climbing the 18 steps to reach the sanctum sanctorum and as they descend, renewing their vows before Lord Ayyappa, they have another bath in the river.
The multitudes are more than what the river can hold but on Friday the water was pale green, not the polluted brown look it wears as the season progresses.
Freshly tarred roads were intact despite the northeast downpour. Labourers, contracted by Tranvancore Devaswom Board, which runs the temple, took rounds, cleaning roads and sprinkling bleaching powder to sanitise the surroundings.
Kerala police’s virtual queue system has evoked enthusiastic response from pilgrim groups from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Pilgrims who register at www.sabarimala.keralapolice.gov.in need not wait for hours for the darshan as the online advance queue coupon entitles the devotee to join the queue at “Valiya Nadapandal”. There is no payment for the advance booking centre.
