41 days Mandala Puja The festival will conclude on December 26. (file)
Pathanamthitta:
In view of the inclement weather conditions and the COVID situation, hundreds of devotees on Tuesday marked the beginning of the two-month annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season to offer prayers to the holy Sabarimala at the famous Lord Ayyappa temple in Pathanamthitta.
As “reconciliation“(Chief Priest) N Parameswaran Namboothiri lit the traditional lamp in the sanctum sanctorum this morning after the temple doors were opened, allowing devotees to travel from the foothills to the hills.
Like last year, devotees were being allowed through a virtual queue system this time too as part of efforts to regulate the flow of pilgrims in the wake of the pandemic and heavy rains.
Although “sannidhanam“While a sea of devotees was seen in the temple premises on the first day of the Malayalam month of Vrichikam, a relatively small number of devotees can be seen this morning.
The authorities have decided to limit the number of pilgrims to the hill top for the next three or four days due to heavy rains.
NS”pampa batham“Religious bathing will not be allowed in the Pampa river this year as its water level was dangerously high,” temple officials said.
The sanctum sanctorum of the temple was opened by the outgoing priest VK Jayaraj Potti on Monday evening in the presence of the tantri (head priest) Kandararu Mahesh Mohanraru.
Government sources said that the government after considering the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic has decided to allow only 30,000 devotees per day to have darshan through the virtual queue system this season.
He said the pilgrimage would be conducted strictly following the COVID-19 protocol, with officials insisting that two doses of a Covid vaccination certificate or RT-PCR negative certificate taken within 72 hours It is mandatory to visit the hill temple, he said.
41 days Mandala Puja The festival will conclude on December 26.
The temple will be reopened on December 30 for the Makaravilakku festival, the second leg of the pilgrimage.
The hill temple will be closed on January 20 after the Makaravilakku festival on January 14, 2022.
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