SABARIMALA: With just two days left for the holy Makaravilakku, Sannidanam is overflowing with devotees and the air of bhakti is pervading the holy shrine. ‘Thiruvabharana’ procession that started on Saturday from Panthalam Valiya Koyikkal palace will reach the shrine on Makaravilakku day on Monday at around 6:15 pm.

Sabarimala women entry and other controversies might have resulted in lesser footfalls at start of the season. But now the situation has changed. Sabarimala is witnessing a steady flow of devotees.

High Court monitoring committee members visited Pamba and Nilakkal to evaluate preparation for Makaravilakku. Devaswom Board President A. Padmakumar will be at Sannidanam on Sunday. Devaswon Minister Kadakampally Surendran will visit the shrine tomorrow.

As devotees will fill the poonkavan to catch a glimpse of Makaravilakku on Monday, last minute preparations are seen everywhere in Sabarimala. Purification rites ahead of Makara Samkrama Pooja have already started.

Makara Jyothi will be seen between 6.40 and 6.45 pm on Monday. People have started arriving through traditional forest path by Saturday evening.
Most of the people who reach are from nearby states.

After deeparadhana, Makarasamkrama puja will start at 7:52 pm. On Sunday, idol purification rites would be held before noon Pooja. Pamba Sadhya and Pamba Vilakku will be held under the aegis of Ambalappuzha and Alangattu teams. After that the team members will climb Sabarimala.

As the inflow of water in Pamba reduced, Kullar dam was opened to raise the water level in Pamba. Strong security is in place at Pamba, Sannidhanam and Nilakkaland in places where Makara Jyothi can be seen.

I G Balramkumar Upadhyay is in charge of the security.

2275 police men are deployed at Sannidhanam under the supervision of SPs Sunil Babu and Sujith Das and V Ajith. At Pamba there will be 900 policemen under SPS Adithya and Baston Sabu and at Nilakkal, there will be 1500 policemen under SPs Himachandranath and Jamaludhin.