Braving rain, devotees offer prayers

Pathanamthitta: Braving inclement weather conditions and Covid situation,  hundreds of devotees on  Tuesday trekked the holy  Sabarimala to offer prayers  at the famed Lord Ayyappa  Temple in Pathanamthitta,  marking the beginning of  the two-month-long annual  Mandalam-Makaravilakku  pilgrimage season.

As ‘Melsanthi’ (chief  priest) N Parameswaran  Namboothiri lit the traditional lamp in the sanctum  sanctorum after opening  the temple portals early  this morning, the devotees  were allowed to trek the  hills from the foothills.

Like the previous year,  the devotees were being  permitted through a virtual  queue system this time also  as part of efforts to regulate  the flow of pilgrims in view  of the pandemic and heavy  rains.

Though the “Sannidhanam”, the temple complex  used to witness a sea of  devotees on the first day of  the Malayalam month of  Vrichikam, comparatively  less number of devotees  could be spotted this morning. Authorities have decided to limit the number  of pilgrims to the hill-top  shrine in the next three  or four days due to heavy  rains.

Temple authorities  added, “pampa snanam”,  a ritualistic bathing in the  river Pampa also would not  be allowed this year as its  water levels were dangerously high.

The sanctum sanctorum  of the temple was opened  on Monday evening in the  presence of Tantri (head  priest) Kandararu Mahesh  Mohanararu by outgoing  priest VK Jayaraj Potti.

The government has decided to allow only 30,000  devotees per day this season  to have darshan through a  virtual queue system after  considering the COVID-19  pandemic situation, the  government sources said.

The pilgrimage would  be held strictly adhering to  COVID-19 protocol with authorities insisting that two  doses of the Covid vaccination certificate or RT-PCR  negative certificate taken  within 72 hours is mandatory for visiting the hill  shrine, they added.

The 41-day Mandala  pooja festival concludes on  December 26. -(agencies)