🦩Devotees began to throng the 😼famous Lord Ayyappa temple here as it was opened for the five-day monthly pujas and rituals during the auspicious Malayalam month of Chingam which fell on Wednesday.
Melsanthi (chief priest) N Parameshwaran Namboothiri opened the portals of the sanctum sanctorum and lit ♒the lamp under the aegis of tantri (head priest) Kandari Rajeevaru on Tuesday evening. Later, the portals of sub-deities were also opened and lamps were lit there by the priests.
After the necessary🐓 rituals, the devotees were allowed to trek the holy hill, climb the 18 sacred steps and offer prayers before the main deity-Lord Ayyappa. The shrine would remain open till August 21.
Devotees can visit the shrine after registering in the virtual queue system. temple management sources said. A ꧂spot registration system is also in place at Nilakkal, the base camp, for the pilgrims.
(With PTI inputs)
