The Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple will reopen today at 5 pm for ‘Thula Masam’ pooja. However, the devotees will be allowed to enter the temple tomorrow, October 17 from 5 am.
‘Thula Masam’ is a monthly prayer in the ‘Tulam’ month as per the Malayalam calendar.
Today, as the Sabarimala temple is set to reopen, lamps will be lit by the present melshanti (head priest) V K Jayaraj Potti and subsequently, the Upadevata temple would be opened and a lamp would be lit there also.
A fire would be lit in front of the 18th step of the shrine and there would be no prayers on Saturday, instead, it will start on Sunday.
Further, the temple will be closed on October 21 after completing the monthly prayer on Sunday.
The Sabarimala temple will reopen again for Atta Chithira pooja on November 2 as part of the ‘Chithira Attavishesham’. Thereafter, on November 3 the temple would be closed again and reopen on November 15 for the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival.
Sabarimala temple reopening: Check the latest SOPs for devotees
1. Devotees will be allowed to enter the Sabarimala temple between October 17 and October 21.
2. Devotees can enter the temple only through virtual queue booking
3. Devotees will either have to produce their double dose vaccination certificate or an RT-PCR negative certificate before entering the temple.
On October 17, a draw of lots will also be held, to select the next head priest of Sabarimala, in the presence of Devaswom president N Vasu and other officials. Besides, ‘Neyyabhishekam’, ‘Udayasthamana Pooja’, ‘Kalabhabhishekam’, ‘Padipooja’ and ‘Pushpabhishekam’ would be the rituals performed during this period.
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