PATHANAMTHITTA: S Arun Kumar Namboothiri was chosen as the new melsanthi of Sabarimala through a draw of lots. T Vasudevan Namboothiri was selected as the new melsanthi of Malikappuram Devi Temple. Arun Kumar Namboothiri hails from Shaktikulangara in Kollam and was former melsanthi of the Attukal temple. Vasudevan Namboothiri is a native of Olavanna in Kozhikode.

The draw of lots was held in Sabarimala after usha puja at 7:30 am. Meantime, the temple opened the other day for the poojas to be held in the month of Thulam. The temple will close on October 21. The new melsanthis will take charge on November 15, the first day of the month of Vrischikam.

Rishikesh Verma and M Vaishnavi, children of the Pandalam palace, picked up the names of Arun Kumar Namboothiri and Vasudevan Namboothiri.

There were 25 people on the preliminary list for Sabarimala and 15 people for Malikappuram. The draw of lots was held in the presence of tantris Kandararu Rajeevaru , Kandararu Brahmadathan, Devaswom Board President P S Prashant, members A Aji Kumar, G Sundaresan, special commissioner and district judge R Jayakrishnan.