Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple will reopen for ‘Thula month’ worship at 5 pm today. However, devotees will be allowed to enter the temple from tomorrow on October 17 at 5 am.
‘Thula month’ is the monthly prayer in the month ‘Thulam’ according to the Malayalam calendar.
Today, as the Sabarimala temple is set to reopen, lamps will be lit by the current Melshanthi (head priest) VK Jayaraj Potti and later, the Upadeva temple will be opened and a lamp will be lit there too.
A fire will be lit in front of the 18th staircase of the temple and the puja will not take place on Saturday, but will start from Sunday.
Also, the temple will be closed on October 21 after completing the monthly puja on Sunday.
Sabarimala temple will reopen for Atta Chitra Puja on November 2 as part of ‘Chithira Attavishesham’. Thereafter, the temple will be closed again on November 3 and will be reopened on November 15 for the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival.
Sabarimala temple reopening: Check latest SOP for devotees
1. Devotees will be allowed to enter Sabarimala temple between October 17 and October 21.
2. Devotees can enter the temple only through virtual queue booking
3. Devotees have to present either their double dose vaccination certificate or RT-PCR negative certificate before entering the temple.
On October 17, a draw of lots will be conducted in the presence of Devaswom president N Vasu and other officials, to select the next chief priest of Sabarimala. In addition, ‘Neyyabhishekam’, ‘Udayasthamana Puja’, ‘Kalabhabhisheka’, ‘Padipuja’ and ‘Pushpabhisheka’ will be the rituals to be performed during this period.
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