Kerala: Devotees throng Sabarimala temple on Makaravilakku

Sabarimala, January 14: Devotees thronged the Lord Ayappa Temple in Kerala's Sabarimala on the occasion of Makaravilakku festival on Tuesday. The temple's reception of the procession carrying the 'Thiruvabharnam (sacred jewels of Lord Ayappa)' is the most important event in the hill shrine on the day of 'Makaravilakku'. The sacred jewels arrive in three separate boxes.

This year, the 'Thiruvabharanam' started its journey from Pandalam on January 12, in accordance with the tradition that the sacred jewels leave for Sabarimala two days before 'Makaravilakku'.The auspicious procession stops at various temples before finally reaching Sannidhanam during the evening hours on the day of Makaravilakku.

The procession leaves the Valiya Koyikkal Temple in Pandalam after the darshan of devotees and various ceremonies on Day 1. After reaching various temples, it rests at the Ayiroor Puthiyakavu temple. On the day of 'Makaravilakku', the procession leaves Laha and reaches Sabaripeetha via Pandithavalam, Cherianavattom, Neelimala, and Apachimedu. It is then received at the Sannidhanam via Saramkuthi.

The priests at Sabarimala adorn the deity with the sacred jewels. The ritual is followed by an 'aarti'. A record 39,02,610 Ayyappa devotees visited the shrine from November 15, when the pilgrimage began, to January 5. Last year, 35,12,691 devotees visited during the same period. From December 30, when the Makaravilaku season began, until Monday, 6,22,849 people visited the shrine, as reported by the state police media centre.

Earlier, the Government of Kerala (GoK) approved a comprehensive layout plan for the Sabarimala pilgrimage site, encompassing Pampa and the trek route, announced Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday.The Kerala Chief Minister said that with an estimated cost of Rs 778.17 crore, the blueprint for the project aims to enhance safety, streamline pilgrim movement, and elevate Sabarimala as a global heritage hub.

As part of the preparations to prevent overcrowding of devotees during the Makaravilaku festival at the Sabarimala temple, it was decided to limit the spot booking facility at Sannidhanam to 5,000 persons per day from January 8-15. The decision was taken under the Kerala High Court's direction for efficient crowd management during festival seasons at the Sabarimala temple. Bookings through the virtual queue have been fixed on the Devaswom board website as 60,000 on January 12, 50,000 on January 13 and 40,000 on January 14.