'Thiruvabharana' procession to reach Sabarimala on January 14

Sabarimala (Kerala): The ‘thiruvabharana’ (sacred ornaments) to be offered to the Ayyappa temple here on the ‘makara sankrama’ day will leave from Pandalam royal palace premises on January 12 and travel along the traditional path to reach Sabarimala sannidhanam on January 14, the ‘makaravilakku’ day.

Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P S Prashanth told reporters here on Thursday that the ornaments, to be adorned on the lord Ayyappa idol, will be ceremonially received by Devaswom and state government representatives and taken to the sannidhanam.

He said the Devaswom Minister, TDB president and members will welcome the procession at the foot of the flagpole in the evening. The ‘tantri’ and ‘melshanthi’ of the temple will receive the 'thiruvabharana' and offer it to the Lord and perform ‘maha deeparadhana.' The ‘makaravilakku’ will then be lit at Ponnambalamedu. At the same time, the ‘makara jyoti’ star will be visible in the sky enthralling thousands of devotees.

He said after the 'makaravilakku', ‘neyyabhishekam’ will be performed from January 15 to 18 at the temple and devotees will be able to worship the Lord adorned with ‘thiruvabharana.'

The Sabarimala temple will be closed on January 20. Only the Pandalam royal family representative who arrives with the ‘thiruvabharana’ procession will have the right to have darshan on January 20.

After completing the darshan, the royal representative will descend the holy steps and return to Pandalam with the ‘thiruvabharana,’ marking the end of the ‘makaravilakku’ festival.

The preparations and arrangements for the 'makaravilakku' festival are nearing completion, the TDB president said.

Meanwhile, Sabarimala ADM Arun S Nair said additional arrangements have been made to control the crowd during the 'makaravilakku' festival days.

He said the virtual queue will be limited to 60,000, 50,000 and 40,000 pilgrims on January 12, 13 and 14 respectively.

Spot bookings from January 9 to 13 have been limited to 5,000 and 1,000 on the 'makaravilakku' day.

He said that spot booking has been shifted from Pampa to Nilakkal from Thursday, where ten counters will be opened.