Chottanikkara: Thousands of devotees reached Chottanikkara Bhagavathy temple seeking blessings on the Makam Thozhal festival. Though Covid spread still persists in the state, a huge crowd was seen in the temple on Thursday, which was the seventh day of the festival. The darshan that began at 2 pm ended only at 10 pm. 

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Nayanthara, Vignesh
Nayanthara, Vignesh 

The rows of barricades were filled by devotees who stood in queues even hours before the sanctum sanctorum opened for darshan. A procession carrying the idols of deities Bhagavathy and Ayyappa on elephants headed to Onakuttichira in the morning. Following the ‘aarattu’ and ‘parayeduppu’, the idols were brought back in ‘Makam Ezhunellippu’. 

After ‘Seeveli’ and ‘Uchapooja’, the ritual ‘Sreebhoothabali’ was conducted under the priestly supervision of Puliyannoor Subrahmanyan Namboothirippad. The sanctum sanctorum closed later and soon opened for Makam Thozhal. 

Celebrities, including Parvathy and Nayanthara along with director Vignesh, reached the temple for darshan. Cochin Devaswom Board president V Nandakumar and members VK Ayyappan and MG Narayanan were also present.