The Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala will be opened on Wednesday afternoon for the five-day monthly rituals in the Malayalam month of Kanni that begins on Thursday.
The temple melsanthi, E.N. Krishnadas Namboodiri, will open the sanctum sanctorum in the presence of the Tantri, Kandararu Mahesh Mohanararu, at 5 p.m.
Rituals
However, the rituals will begin with the Tantri performing the auspicious Ashtadravya Maha Ganapati homom on Thursday morning.
A Kalabhabhishekom will be performed at the Ayyappa shrine prior to the Utchapuja on Thursday. Padipuja, Ashtabhishekom, Udayasthamanapuja and Pushpabhishekom will be the other important rituals to be held at the Ayyappa temple on all the five days.
A Sahasrakalasabhishekom will be performed at the Ayyappa temple on Friday.
Closure
The temple will be closed after the Athazhapuja on September 21 evening, marking the culmination of monthly rituals in the month of Kanni.
Teak wood mast
The Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom will cut the 64-year old teak tree identified at Vayakkara in the Naduvathumoozhy range of Konni Forest Division on Wednesday for the new temple mast at the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala.
The Sanghom president, N. Velayudhan Nair, told The Hindu that the Sanghom has made elaborate arrangements for the transportation of the 175-cm-long log of teak wood to Sabarimala via Pandalam.
The Travancore Devaswom Board has decided to replace the existing temple mast with a new one on the basis of the recommendations made at the astrological consultation (Devaprasnom) held at Sabarimala in 2014.
A 64-year-old teak tree at Vayakkara in Konni Forest Division will be cut for a new temple mast
