Mandala season concludes after 41 days at Sabarimala temple

The mandala puja was conducted at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple on Thursday, signalling the end of the 41-day mandala season for pilgrims to the hill shrine.

The rituals were held in the presence of thousands of pilgrims as the idol of Lord Ayyappa was adorned with the Thanka Anki – the traditional golden attire – during the puja that commenced at 11:30 am.

Following the athazha puja in the night, the temple was closed, formally bringing this year’s mandala season to an end. The temple will reopen on December 30 when the makaravilakku festival season commences in Sabarimala.

The procession carrying the golden attire from the Parthasarathy Temple in Aranmula had started on Sunday and reached Pampa on Wednesday.

The mandala season this year has witnessed yet another leap in the number of pilgrims visiting the shrine. Reports said the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), till December 24, has recorded a revenue of about Rs 127 crore from the season, a jump of about Rs 20 crore from the season last year. The revenue includes earnings from offerings at the temple, sale of prasadam and room rent collected from the pilgrims.

The board has earned in the excess of Rs 50 crore solely from sale of the temple prasadam while pilgrims’ offerings at the sannidhanam touched Rs 68 crore.