Alappuzha: The Thiruvabharanam procession, the annual ritual carrying the sacred jewellery to Sabarimala for the Makaravilakku festival, will start its 63-km journey from Puthanmedathazha courtyard of Pandalam palace at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. The jewellery will not be exhibited this time and the royal representative will not accompany it due to the mourning over the recent death of K. Ramavarma Raja, one of the senior members in the palace.
“The wooden box containing Thiruvabharanam would be shifted from the strong room of Srambickal palace to the adjoining Valiyakoickal temple and to the specially built pandal on the premises of Pandalam palace at 7.30 a.m. for the devotees to have darshan,” said Raja Raja Varma, secretary, Pandalam palace.
The sacred jewellery in three wooden boxes will be taken to Sabarimala by a 22-member team headed by Kulathinal Gangadharan Pillai, Raja said. A ‘Neeranjanam Aarati’ would be performed by12.50 p.m. The members of the Pandalam royal family, who have no blood relations with the deceased Raja, will escort the jewellery as usual. After receptions on the way, the procession will halt at the Laha Sathram, near Plappally, on the Mannarakulanji-Chalakkayam main trunk road leading to Sabarimala at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Sewage plant becomes fully operational: The Rs 23-crore modern sewage treatment plant at Sabarimala has beco me fully operational, giving a boost to the ‘Green Sabarimala’ campaign. The plant is located in a low-lying area near Malikappuram, enabling gravity flow of the sewage into it. Though the treatment plant, having a capacity to treat five million litres per day, was launched on November 10, it was not functioning properly. The High Court had even issued a notice to the contractor.
“Finally the contractor managed to operate the plant at full capacity which would prevent pollution of Pampa river. Even the treated water is disinfected in the ozonation tank where it is dosed with ozone generated in the ozonation chamber before releasing the same into the rover.
