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Sabarimala temple opens today

By Our Staff Reporter

PATHANAMTHITTA Nov. 15. The Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala will be opened tomorrow afternoon for the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrim season that begins on Monday, the first day of the Malayalam month of Vrischikom.

A large number of Ayyappa devotees coming from different parts of south India have already been camping at Pampa and Sannidhanam to have the holy darshan when the temple opens at 5-p.m. tomorrow.

The temple Tantri (chief priest), Kantaru Rajeevaru, told The Hindu that the outgoing Melsanthi, Perikamana Sankaranarayanan Nampoothiri, will open the sanctum sanctorum for the pilgrims to have darshan of the presiding deity tomorrow. The poojas will begin only with the Ganapathi homam and Abhishekom on Monday morning.

The new Melsanthi, Gosala Vishnu Vasudevan, will initiated by the Tantri at the temple `sopanam' at 7-p.m. tomorrow. Mr. Vasudevan will assume charge, later, to perform the daily poojas at the Ayyappa shrine for the next one-year term from Monday.

The new Melsanthi will open the shrine at 4-a.m. on Monday and the Abhishekom will be performed at 4.10-a.m. The Tantri will perform the Mahaganapathi homam at 4.15-am and the Neyyabhishekom will begin, later, according to the Tantri.

The 10-day annual temple festival will be held from November 20 to 29.

The Mandala pooja will be held on December 27 and the temple will remain closed during the next four days, after the 41-day Mandalam season.

The temple will be opened at 5-p.m. on January 1, 2004, for the Makaravilakku festival that begins the next day.

The Makaravilakku day falls on January 14 and the Ayyappa idol will be decorated with the sacred golden attire, Thiruvabharanam brought in a procession from the Pandalam Palace, prior to the deeparadhana at 6.30-p.m.

The Ayyappa temple will be closed on January 20 after the 60-day Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrim season.

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