lakhs of pilgrims camping at the vantage points of Sabarimala, Kerala’s pilgrimage centre famous for its lord Ayyappa temple, and millions of devotees of lord Ayyappa sitting in the drawing rooms of their homes with eyes glued to the TV sets on Saturday experienced the bliss of beholding the Makara Jyoti, the holy flame flickering in the horizon.

The Jyoti appeared on the horizon over Ponnambalamedu, a summit several kilometres away from the lord Ayyappa shrine, on Saturday evening when the temple’s sanctum sanctorum opened for Deeparadhana (worship by lights) for which the idol of lord Ayyappa was decked in  the Thiruvabharanam (the holy ornaments).

The Makara Jyoti Darshan is the ultimate event of the 66-day, two-phase Mandalam-Makara Vilakku annual pilgrimage of Sabarimala. The lord Ayyappa shrine had opened for the current pilgrimage on November 15. The shrine had witnessed unprecedented rush of devotees for the Makara Jyoti Darshan, temple authorities said.

As the holy flame flickered three times over Ponnambalamedu, the atmosphere at Sannidhanam, the abode of lord Ayyappa at the shrine, and other places in Sabarimala grew loud with the chanting of “Saranam Ayyappa” by lakhs of devotees including those who had been camping among the mountains eagerly for the blessed moment for the past several days.

The Thiruvabharanam brought in a procession from the Valiya Koyikkal Palace, lord Ayyappa’s ancestral home at Pandalam, was received by distinguished personalities, priests, members of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) administering the temple and numerous pilgrims on Saturday evening after which the Deeparadhana was held.

According to TDB officials, the rush of pilgrims who had reached Sabarimala for sighting the Jyoti this pilgrimage season was unprecedented. As per estimates, over three crore devotees, mainly from Kerala and other states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, visit Sabarimala during the pilgrimage season every year.

The police and the TDB had made special arrangements to avoid overcrowding at Sannidhanam, Pampa, the base camp for Sabarimala, and other places. Over 5,000 police personnel had been deployed at and around Sannidhanam and Pampa to meet the security requirements of the day.