Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Sabarimala festival from March 10

The 10-day annual festival at Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala will be held from March 10 to 19.

The temple will be opened on Wednesday afternoon. The rituals will begin with chief priest (Tantri) Kandararu Rajeevaru, assisted by head priest (Melsanthi) Ezhikode Sasi Namboodiri, performing the Ashtadravya Ganapati homom on Thursday morning.


The purification rituals `bimba-sudhikriya' and `praasada-sudhikriya' will be performed on Wednesday afternoon prior to the ‘kodiyettu' ceremony, which will be between 10.35 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. on Thursday. The chief priest will perform the ‘kodiyettu' rituals before the golden temple mast and hoist the ceremonial flag.


Utsavabali
‘Utsavabali' will be performed from March 11 to 18 at a specially prepared pandal in the temple precincts after the ‘utchapuja.' The Tantri, assisted by the Melsanthi, will perform the Utsavabali.


The Utchapuja during the festival period will be performed by 11 a.m. and the Utsavabali darshan will be from 1.30 p.m. to 2.30 p.m.


The Vilakkinezhullippu procession will be held at the Sannidhanam from March 14 to 18.


Pallivetta
The Pallivetta ritual will held on March 18. The presiding deity will be taken in a ceremonial procession to Saramkuthy on the traditional trekking path for the Pallivetta ritual after the Athazhapuja on March 18.


Aratt
The Painguni Uthram, which is believed to be Lord Ayyappa's birthday, falls on March 19. The 10-day temple festival will conclude with the Aratt ceremony on March 19 when the deity will be taken out in a procession to Pampa for the Arat ceremony. The Aratpuja and Utchapuja will be performed at the specially prepared Arat-kadavu in the Pampa river on the foothills of Sabarimala at 11 am.


The deity will be taken back to the Sannidhanam in an Arat procession by 10 p.m. The Tantri will bring down the ceremonial flag, marking the culmination of the annual festival.


KSRTC services
According to Kerala State Road Transport Corporation sources, the corporation will operate special services to Pampa from its depots at Pathanamthitta, Chengannur, Kottayam, Thiruvananthapuram, Erumeli, Kumily and Kottarakara from March 9 to 19.

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