The famous lord Ayyappa shrine situated among the Sabarimala mountains of Kerala closed on Tuesday morning at the end of the 65-day annual Mandalam-Makara Vilakku pilgrimage season. The sanctum sanctorum opened on Tuesday at 5.00 AM and closed at 7.00 AM after the representative of the Pandalam Palace, believed to be the ancestral home of lord Ayyappa, had Darshan. After that the Melsanthi (head priest) of the temple handed over the key of the sanctum sanctorum to the palace representative.
Following this, he came out of the temple with the Thiruvabharanam (holy ornaments), which was put on the idol of the lord for the Poojas of Makara Sankramam and during the Makara Jyoti Darsan on January 14, the ultimate event of the pilgrimage, and returned to the palace after giving the keys to the Melsanthi.
The sanctum sanctorum was closed after a Ganapathi Homam which was performed under the supervision of Kantararu Rajeevaru, Tanthri (traditional chief priest) of the temple. The pilgrimage, which had started this season on November 16, had actually come to a close on Monday night itself with the closure of the sanctum sanctorum after the daily Poojas.
The shrine was closed on December 27 at the end of the 41-day Mandala Kalam, the first phase of the pilgrimage, to reopen three days later. The ultimate event of the pilgrimage, the Darsan of Makara Jyoti, the holy flame appearing in the horizon, took place in the presence of lakhs of devotees on January 14. Officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the body incharge of the administration of the temple, said that the shrine had witnessed unprecedented rush of devotees during this pilgrimage season. They also expected a huge increase in the income at the shrine by way of offerings made by devotees compared to the last season.