Mandala puja held at Sabarimala

The mandala puja was held under the aegis of the head priest Kandaru Rajeevaru and Melshanti Chief Priest V K Jayaraj Potti as pilgrims chanted hymns of the Lord in unison.The idol of Lord Ayyappa was adorned with thanka angi, the sacred golden attire, which was brought here on Friday evening in a ceremonial procession from the Sree Parthasarthy temple at Aranmula.

Amid strict COVID-19 protocols, the auspicious Mandala puja was held at the Lord Ayyappa temple here, marking the end of the first leg of the 62-days-long annual pilgrimage season. In the place of thousands of pilgrims, who queued up for hours on thetrekkingpaths to offer prayers on this day in previous years, only a moderate crowd was seen this time due to the restrictions imposed in the wake of the pandemic.

Chanting ''swamiye saranam Ayyappa'' mantra, devotees thronged the hill-top temple and waited patiently to witness the special pujas and rituals including ''kalabha abhishekam'' and ''kalasa abhishekam''. The 'mandala puja' was held under the aegis of the head priest Kandaru Rajeevaru and Melshanti (Chief Priest) V K Jayaraj Potti as pilgrims chanted hymns of the Lord in unison.

The idol of Lord Ayyappa was adorned with 'thanka angi,'' the sacred golden attire, which was brought here on Friday evening in a ceremonial procession from the Sree Parthasarthy temple at Aranmula. The shrine would close at 9 pm, marking the conclusion of the initial phase of the two-month-long annual pilgrim season, which began on November 16 and would re-open on December 30 for the 'Makaravillaku' festival on January 14.