Sabarimala temple opens today; Painkuni Uthram festival starts tomorrow

SABARIMALA: The Sabarimala temple will open today for the Painkuni Uthra festival, Vishu festival, and Medam month pujas. The Melshanthi will open the temple at 5 pm and light the lamp in the sanctum sanctorum. The ten-day festival will begin tomorrow at 9.45 am and will be inaugurated by Thantri Kandararu Rajeevaru, his son Kandararu Brahmadatthan, and Melshanthi S. Arun Kumar Namboothiri. Together, they will flag off the festival.

The rituals during the festival will include Kalasabhishekam, Ucha Pooja, Mulayideel, Deeparadhana, Padi Pooja, Sreebhootabali, and Vilakkinezhunnellath. The temple will open daily at 5 am. At 10 am, a procession to Saramkuthi for Pallivetta will take place. The temple will close at 10 pm every day after Athazha pooja.

On the 11th, the Aarattu will begin. After the Usha puja and Arattubali at 7.30 am, the Aarattu procession will leave for Pampa at 9 am. Following the Aarattu in Pampa, the deity will be taken to the Pampa Ganapathi temple. That evening, the Aarattu procession will return to the Sannidhanam.

After the procession reaches Sannidhanam, there will be Kodiyirakku, Aarattu Kalasham, and Deeparadhana. The Meda Vishu festival will start on the 10th, with Vishu falling on the 14th. The Meda month pujas will conclude, and the temple will close at 10 pm on the 18th.

Devotees can book darshan through a virtual queue or spot booking. Spot booking arrangements have been set up in Pampa.

New darshan system introduced; police deployed for crowd management

From today, devotees climbing the 18th step will have two ways to darshan. During less crowded times, darshan can be done directly from both sides of the flagpole. During peak times, devotees will use the flyover for darshan. This new system was introduced to fix issues observed during last month’s puja, when direct darshan was allowed.

To manage the crowd, additional police personnel, led by a special officer, have been stationed at Sannidhanam, Pampa, and Nilakkal.