Sabarimala pilgrimage: Temple doors to open tomorrow; Check schedule, booking procedure and more

Pathanamthitta: Only a few hours remain before the chants of millions of devotees echo once again at the sacred sanctum on the hill. The Sabarimala Dharma Sastha temple will open on Sunday for the pilgrimage season, which continues until January 20. Final preparations are underway at Nilackal, Pamba and the Sannidhanam.

A permanent barricade has been set up this year at the point where buses stop on the way from Pamba to Nilackal, to keep pilgrims away from the road. German tents capable of accommodating 3,000 people have been erected at both Nilackal and Pamba. Construction of a new parking ground is also progressing at Nilackal.

The temple will be opened on Sunday at 5 pm by the melshanti (chief priest) Arun Kumar Namboothiri, in the presence of Thantri (head priest) Mahesh Mohanaru. He will then descend the sacred 18 steps and light the ceremonial fire using the lamp from the Sreekovil. Below the steps, he will lead the newly appointed melshantis, who will be waiting with their irumudikettu, into the Sannidhanam.

At around 6.30 pm, the tantri will consecrate the newly appointed Sabarimala melshanti, Prasad Namboothiri, on the Sopanam. Following this, the consecration ceremony of the newly appointed Malikappuram melshanti, Manu Namboothiri, will take place at the Malikappuram temple. There will be no poojas on Sunday.

Pilgrimage will begin at 3 am on Monday, coinciding with the start of the Malayalam month of Vrischikam, when the new melshantis open the Sabarimala and Malikappuram temples for the pilgrimage season. Darshan timings will be from 3 am to 1 pm, and from 3 pm to 11 pm daily.

On December 26, the ‘Thanka Anki’ (deity adorned in sacred golden attire) deeparadhana will be held. Mandala Pooja will take place on December 27, after which the temple will close for the conclusion of the Mandalam pilgrimage season.

The temple steps will reopen on December 30 at 5 pm for the Makaravilakku festival, which will be observed on January 14. Devotees may have the deity’s darshan until January 19. The temple will close on January 20 after the erstwhile royals' representative’s visit in the morning.

Online booking is mandatory for darshan. The official website is www.sabarimalaonline.org.

A total of 70,000 online bookings are available each day. Spot booking facilities are available at Pamba, Nilackal, Erumeli, Vandiperiyar, Sathram and Chengannur.