The Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple prepares for the annual 10-day festival starting March 14. The revered celebration draws visitors from all over the country. The temple is accessible to devotees of all castes and creeds. Males of all ages are allowed and Females who have not yet hit puberty or have crossed the fertility age can only enter the temple premises.
For the rituals of the festival and Pooja, the Sreekovil, the part of the temple where the idol of the Lord is located, is opened on March 13 evening. The festival begins with the Kodiyettu ceremony. The rituals of the annual festival is conducted under the guidance of Thantri Mahesh Mohanaru. The ceremonies are done between 10:20 am and 11 am after Usha pooja. The routine poojas, “kodiyirakku,” “Valiyakanikka”, athazha pooja and Harivarasanam are held during the festival. The daily Poojas and rituals continue till almost 10 pm.
Utsavabali ritual, a part of the annual festival will be conducted from the second day of the festival on March 15 to the ninth day of the festival March 22. The three-hour long ritual, begins with lighting of the traditional lamp at 10.30 am, concluding with Utsavabali Darshan at 1.30 pm.
Arattu, the last rituals of the annual festival will be held on March 23. The ceremony marking the conclusion of the annual festival, will be held at the arattu kadavu in Pampa River. In the Pampa Lord Ganapathi temple, at 11.30 am on March 23. In this ceremony, the Sreebali idol of Lord Ayyappa will be kept in front of the Pampa Lord Ganapathi temple for offering “para.” The arattu return procession will leave Pampa at 3 pm and reach Sannidhanam at 6 pm.
The holy festival has been dictated by the High Court of Kerala to ensure total plastic ban at Sabarimala. The High Court has made it clear that there can be no sale of plastic and plastic products. The ban includes water in pet bottles or other types of plastic bottles at Pampa, Nilakkal and Sannidhanam. The court also directed the TDB (Travancore Devaswom Board) and the Forest Department to do the needful to provide temporary sheds for distributing medicated drinking water to pilgrims on the trekking routes to the temple.