Kochi: The Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala will reopen for the two-month-long Mandala-Makaravilakku festival on Monday. Outgoing Melshanthi E.N. Krishnadas Namboothiri will open the sanctum sanctorum at 5.30 pm though the ceremonies mainly comprise the ritual of installing the new head priest S.E. Sankaran Namboothiri.
The outgoing melshanthi will climb down the holy 18 steps after handing over the keys to the new head priest. The latter will open the sanctum sanctorum on Tuesday, the first day of the Malayalam month of Vrischikam. Regular temple rituals will begin only after the Tantri performs the ‘Ashtadravya Maha Ganapathi homam’ in the morning.
Meanwhile, all arrangements including healthcare facilities and crowd control measures have been completed at the pilgrim centre, according to a Travancore Devaswom Board statement.
The first leg of the pilgrimage will culminate with Mandala Pooja on December 27. The temple will be closed thereafter and reopened again on December 30 for Makaravilakku with ‘jyothi darshan’ as its highpoint on January 15.
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