Temple head priest (Melsanthi) N. Balamurali opened the sanctum sanctorum at 5.30 p.m. The rituals started with Ashtadravya Ganapati homom on Wednesday morning.

The Melsanthi will prepare ‘Vishukkani’ inside the sanctum sanctorum on April 13 and darshan will begin at 4 a.m. on
April 14.

The temple will be closed after the Athazhapuja on April 18.

The Tantri will perform the ‘Arattu pooja’ and ‘Utcha pooja’ at the Arattu kadavu and the ‘Arattu’ procession will return to the Sannidhanam, later around 10 pm. The annual festival will come to a close with the Tantri bringing down the ceremonial flag on the temple mast.

The ritualistic ‘pallivetta’ will be held at Saramkuthi on the traditional trekking path on April 4 evening.

The Ayyappa shrine will be closed after the ‘Athazhapuja’.

The Tantri, Kandararu Maheswararu, assisted by Melsanthi, N. Balamurali, performed the ritual after the Utchapuja.

Pushpabhishekom and Padipuja were the other major rituals performed at the Ayyappa Temple on Thursday.

The Palliveta will be held at Saramkuthi on the trekking path on April 4 evening and the 10-day festival will come to a close after the Aratt ceremony on April 5.

Melsanthi G Balamurali will open the sreekovil at 5.30 pm in the presence of thantri Kandararu Maheswararu. Sahasrakalasam and kalabhabhishekam would be the special rituals to be held on all the five days at the temple.

Laksharchana would be held on February 18.

Pilgrims have been camping in make-shift tents pitched at Paandithavalom, Appachimedu, Marakkoottom, Urakkuzhy and near the Malikappuram temple, copra drying yard and the Forest department office at Sannidhanam since the past two days. They cook food in the surroundings of the tents made of poles, twigs and tree branches collected from the forests.

Almost all vantage points at the Sannidhanam have been occupied by pilgrims so that they could have a trouble-free view of the deeparadhana to be performed at Ponnambalamedu on Sunday evening.

TDB  have also made arrangements for the Makarajyoti darshan from the open space arranged after demolishing the damaged pilgrim shelters at Paandithavalom.

The incident has created a new controversy as certain scholars, including Kanipayyor, had come up with the argument that the traditional lighting of the Makaravilakku at Ponnambalamedu, should be done on Saturday as per astrological calculations, a claim contradicted by the Travancore Dewasom Board all along.

TDB president R. Rajagopalan Nair said -“The light is not the ‘Deeparandhana’ as the light is whitish rather than reddish in nature. It is lit by using powerful torch. Further the light is seen some distance away from the Pannambalamedu,”  When asked whether it was the handiwork of certain vested interests, he refused to comment on it.

However, sources said some lights could have been lit up by the tribal people as a mark of protest against not participating them in the ritual which they claim to have the rights. “May be Mala Arya members could have made it near the spot. But the light could have also be that of search lights as it was reportedly whitish than reddish in colour,” an official said.

He said among others the role of Rahul Eswar, who supports the Mala Aryas, would be looked into.

Usually the Makaravilakku festival is observed January 14 but this time it was delayed by a day. The root of the confusion in the dates rose as the ‘Makarasankranti’ fell on mid-night.

Earlier pilgrims were seen offering prayers with Ayyappa mantras being rendered. Though the authorities were repeatedly aired announcements through loud speakers, it fell on deaf ears as more and more devotees joined the melee.

After 10 minutes, some of them were seen heading home with the satisfaction of ‘watching’ Makaravilakku.

Courtesy: The Deccan Chronicle.

After ascending the Holy steps and darsan, the team went and met Tantri to inform their arrival. It is believed that the Bimbasudhikriya will only start once the team arrives at Sabarimala. Ganapathi and Sreerag are the two Kanni Ayyappans have chosen for the ritual this time. Travancore Maharaja, Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma did the ghee filling ritual for them at the Navarathri  Mandapam at Trivandrum on 11th morning 8.30. Coconuts have been filled symbolizing the eight members of Travancore kingdom.

Three coconuts have filled with ghee at Pattom palace on the same day and Ramanathan also filled three coconuts on the same day as part of the ritual. The two Ayyappans have thus brought a total of 14 ghee filled coconuts to here.  These 14 coconuts will be brought to the Sanctum Sanctorum by Tantri on January 15 early morning  12.59 before MakaraSankarama time.

This will be used for the Neyyabhishekam during the  Makarasankrama time and will distribute among the devotees as offering after that. The team will descend the holy hills after having the Makaravilakku darsan and with the offering on 16th.