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Thiruvabharanam procession begins
| To reach Sabarimala Sannidhanam tomorrow afternoon |
Sacred jewellery: The ceremonial procession carrying Thiruvabharanam sets off to Sabarimala from Pandalam on Monday. —
PANDALAM: The annual procession carrying the sacred ornaments (Thiruvabharanam) of the presiding deity of the Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala began on a ceremonial note at Pandalam on Monday afternoon. Ayyappa devotees from different parts of south India thronged Pandalam to witness the function.
The sacred jewellery, believed to have been offered to the Ayyappa temple by the king of the erstwhile Pandalam kingdom who was the foster father of Manikanta (Lord Ayyappa), is taken to Sabarimala for the Makaravilakku festival every year. The Pandalam palace authorities keep the jewellery at a strong room of the palace.
The jewellery was shifted to the nearby Valiyakoickal Sastha Temple early Monday morning and kept there till 12.30 p.m. for the devotees to see it. The jewellery was then packed in three specially designed wooden boxes. The Melsanthi performed special pujas. An 18-member team headed by Guruswami Kulathinal Gangadharan Pillai is carrying the jewellery.
The atmosphere was charged with ‘Ayyappa Saranom’ mantras when a celestial kite, Krishnaparunthu, was spotted in the sky at 12.50 noon. The procession began at 1.05 p.m. when the eldest male member of the Pandalam royal family, P. Ramavarma Raja, handed over the ceremonial sword to royal representative Raja Raja Varma who escorts the jewellery to Sabarimala. The procession will reach Sabarimala on Wednesday afternoon. Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru, assisted by Melsanthi N. Vishnu Namboodiri, will decorate the Ayyappa idol with the ornaments prior to the deeparadhana, later.
The sacred jewellery will be taken back to Pandalam on January 24.
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