Sabarimala festival begins

SABARIMALA: The 10-day annual festival at Lord Ayyappa Temple here began on Tuesday with kodiyettu ceremony.Thantri Kandararu Maheswararu performed the kodiyettu ceremony in the presence of Melsanthi G Balamurali at 9.45 a m. Before the kodiyettu, Thantri Maheswararu conducted pooja on the temple flag in the nalambalam and later inside the sreekovil.Special Commissioner M Jagadeesh, Devaswom Commissioner N Vasu and Sabarimala Devaswom executive officer M Satheeshkumar were present on the occasion witnessed by hundreds of devotees. Utsavabali from TodayUtsavabali, the ritual to be held during the annual festival days for the Hill Gods of Lord Ayyappa, would be held from Wednesday till April 3.The ritual would be held under the leadership of the thantri at 11.30 a m after uchcha pooja.On the conclusion of the ritual, the devotees would have the facility for utsavabali darsan at 2 p m.Sreebhoothabali VilakkinezhunnellippuSreebhoothabali vilakkinezhunnellippu, the procession carrying the thidambu of Lord Ayyappa, would be taken at the sopanam at 9.30 p m from March 30 to April 3.Pallivetta on April 4Pallivetta, the ritual on the ninth day of the festival, would be held on April 4 at 10.30 p m. The pallivetta procession would be taken out at 9.30 p m and after the ritual, the procession would reach the sopanam at 11.30 pm.ArattuArattu, the ritual marking one of the concluding ceremonies of the festival, would be held under the leadership of Thantri Kandararu Maheswararu and Melsanthi Balamurali at the arattu kadavu in Pampa river on April 5 at 11.30 a m.For the ceremony, the procession carrying the thidambu of Lord Ayyappa on a caparisoned elephant would be taken out from the sopanam at 11 am.After the arattu ceremony, the sreebali idol of Lord Ayyappa, would be kept in front of the Pampa Lord Ganapathi Temple for ‘para’ offering.The arattu procession would leave Pampa at 4 p m and would reach the sopanam at 7 p m.After the rituals inside the sreekovil, the temple would be closed after kodiyirakku, valiyakanikka and Harivarasanam at 10 p m.