Sabarimala temple to be opened on April 10

The hill abode of Lord Ayyappa here will be opened on April 10 for eight-day Vishu festival. Melsanthi Jayaraj Potti will open the sreekovil of the temple in presence of thantri Kandararu Rajivaru at 5 pm. As an ongoing practice of the temple, no ritual will be performed at the sreekovil in the evening.

As part of Covid-19, restrictions on the entry of devotees for darsan will continue during the Vishu festival. A total of 10,000 devotees will be allowed darsan daily through virtual queue passes. RT-PCR negative certificates will be mandatory for darsan of Lord Ayyappa. The sreekovil will be opened for the annual Vishukani darsan between 5 and 6pm on April 14. 

As part of the preparations, the idol of Lord Ayyappa will be decorated with flowers before the closure of the sreekovil at 9 pm on April 13. Thantri Kandararu Rajivaru and melsanthi Jayaraj Potti will distribute coins to the devotees after Vishukani darsan.