The doors of the Sabarimala Temple were opened for the mandala pilgrimage season on Sunday. The temple nada was opened in the presence of Kandararu Rajeevaru, the head priest of the Sabarimala shrine.
No special pujas were conducted at the temple shrine today. The installation ceremony of the new chief priest, VK Jayaraj Potti, will take place at 7 pm on Sunday. They will lead the rituals at the temples on Monday. Devotees will be allowed to visit the temples only from tomorrow.
Strict Covid-19 protocols have been put in place by the state’s health department. On weekdays, 1,000 devotees will be allowed to visit the shrine daily due to the present Covid-19 situation across the country. On Saturday and Sunday, 2,000 devotees are allowed to visit the temple. On the eve of Makaravilakku, 5,000 devotees will be allowed to visit the temple. However, devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran said that in the coming days, more devotees will be allowed to visit Sabarimala.
This year, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) will be allowing a maximum of 86,000 devotees to visit the shrine considering the current Covid situation. Many devotees have booked via the virtual queue online booking facility. It is must be noted that devotees are not allowed to stay long at Pamba or Sannidhanam.
