SABARIMALA: As half a million throats chanted 'Swamiye Saranamayyappa,' the Makaravilakku appeared on Ponnambalamedu at 6.44 pm, giving the devotees the bliss for a lifetime, here at Sabarimala on Saturday.
The Makaravilakku appeared thrice, as entire Sabarimala shouted the sacred slogan as if with one throat. The devotees later worshiped Lord Ayyappa, who has been adorned by the sacred ornaments (Thiruvabharanam) taken by procession from Pandalam Sree Dharma Sastha Temple.
The Thiruvabharana procession, which reached Sannidhanam at 5 pm, was received by Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, Pathanamthitta District Collector R Girija, Travancore Devaswom Board President Prayar Gopalakrishnan and other officials at Kodimaram at Sopanam around 6.30 pm.
Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru along with Melsanthi T.M Unnikrishnan Namboodiri took the Thiruvabharanam to the sanctum sanctorum. Ahead of deeparadhana, the idol of the Lord was adorned with the ornaments. Immediately after the sanctum sanctorum opened for deeparadhana, Makaravilakku- the bright flame, was sighted at Ponnambalamedu around 6.44 pm. Earlier the Makara jyothi (the Sirius star) and the Brahminy kite (krishnaparuthu) appeared on sky around 5.30 pm heralding the auspicious occasion.
According to TDB officials, a rise of 15 percent devotes have been recorded this Makaravilakku festival. Sannidhanam alone had over 1.25 lakh devotees during the time of Makaravilakku. Apart from the Sopanam, 17 more spots, where the Makara Vilakku was visible, were filled with devotees. Along with officials, celebrities including actors Jayaram and Vivek Oberoi were also present at Sannidhanam for the Makaravilakku darsanam.
Security forces had made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the day. Kerala police has deployed 3,250 men, largest ever in the history of Sabarimala. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu Police, central armed police forces, National Disaster Response Force, Thunderbolt commando team, forest and fire and rescue departments were also chipped in ensuring trouble free darsana.
A full time Incident Command Post of Emergency Operations Centre of Pathanamthitta District Disaster Management Authority was also functional at Sannidhanam where all departments' concerned representatives were present.
Snakes slither happy around Sabarimala
Trinket snake and cobras top the list of snakes caught from Sabarimala this season. According to the statistics provided by the forest department, as on the Makaravilakku day, as many as 287 snakes were captured from the general pilgrim movement area and released in the dense forest.
Among them, non-venomous trinket snakes (133) and cobras (73) are the types found mostly. Other venomous snakes like saw-scaled viper, krait (vellikettan and shankuvarayan) and golden tree snake are also plenty in the list. However, compared to last year’s count (475), the number of snakes captured was very low.
Interestingly, no snake bite cases have been reported from Sabarimala in recent years. Section forest officer on duty at Sabarimala K.S. Saleem told DC that the department was getting several calls from people to attend snake capturing cases. “Majority of the snakes, that too venomous, are found from Koprakkalam and Paandi Thaavalam where large number of people are staying or moving. However, we haven’t come across a case where snake bite was reported,” he said.
The Forests department has also employed an expert snake-catcher who releases them into the woods after catching them. Vandiperiyar native Gopi Selvan is in his seventh consecutive season as a snake catcher.
So far, he has captured and released nearly 2,000 snakes from Sannidhanam and nearby areas to the forest. Bite marks are also plenty on his hand. During the start of the season, Gopi Selvan was felicitated by the forest officials for his long service to the department and the Sabarimala.
Harivarasanam award presented to Gangai Amaran
Noted music director Gangai Amaran received this year’s Harivarasanam award instituted by the state government to promote the spirit of secularism, equanimity and universal brotherhood of Sabarimala.
Gangai Amaran, who accepted the award from Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, said that the award was a ‘bhiksha’ from Lord Ayyappan and that there was no reward as blissful as this. “It was with Yesudas and Unnikrishnan that I first visited Sabarimala. From then onwards, every time after darshan , the lord gave me rewards in many ways,” he said.
He later sang the popular devotional song “Kananavaasa Kaliyuga varada’ along with actor Jayaram. Gangai Amaranmusic is a director, singer, lyricist, script writer, film director and actor in Tamil films
