Sabarimala (Kerala):
Amid tight
security, the gates of the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala were thrown open
for the two-month long Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season. Kandararu Mahesh
Mohanararu opened the sanctum sanctorum of the temple at 5 pm, and performed
the poojas, as hundreds of devotees from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and other
neighbouring states thronged the shrine located in a reserve forest of the
Western Ghats in Pathanamthitta district of the state.
Devotees, who were allowed to trek the hill from 2 PM,
climbed the sacred 18 steps to the temple with the “irumudikettu”
(sacred bag containing the offerings to the Lord) after the priests performed
the “padi pooja” New
priests– A K Sudheer Namboodiri (Sabarimala) and M S Prameshwaran Namboodiri
(Malikapuram) later took charge
The state and temple precincts had witnessed frenzied
protests by right outfits and BJP workers last year after the LDF government
decided to implement the Supreme courts verdict of September 28, 2018 allowing
women of all age groups to offer prayers at the shrine.
However, this year, even though the top court had not stayed
its verdict on entry of young women into the shrine while posting various
petitions on the matter to a larger bench, the government was exercising caution.
Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran has made it clear
that Sabarimala was not a place for activists to display their activism and
said the government would not encourage such women who want to visit the shrine
for publicity.
Those who want to visit the temple can procure a court order
to enter the temple, he had said. The
board has made elaborate arrangements to provide maximum amenities to the
devotees.
(PTI)
