Sabarimala temple opens

SABARIMALA:   The hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa temple was opened on Wednesday evening for the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season. Melsanthi Sasi Nampoothiri opened the Sreekovil at 5.30 pm in the presence of thantri Kandararu Maheswararu.Heavy rush was witnessed at the Sannidhanam when the Sreekovil was opened for the new pilgrimage season,  with flyover and the Nadapandal jampacked with people. The queue at Valiya Nadapandal  extended up to Saramkuthi when the shrine opened at 5.30 pm.  The pilgrims were forced to stand in the queue for about four hours for darsan of Lord Ayyappa. As a practice, hardly any ritual was conducted in the evening.INSTALLATION CEREMONY The installation ceremony of the new Sabarimala new melsanthi N Balamurali was held in front of the Sreekovil at 7 pm. Thantri Kandararu Maheswararu performed Kalasabhishekam as part of the installation ceremony.The thantri also administered the secret  ‘Ayyappa Mantram’ to the ear of the new melsanthi. A similar installation ceremony was held at Malikappuram temple where Thantri Maheswararu performed Kalasabhishekam on Easwaran Nampoothiri.