Sabari pilgrimage season begins

Kochi: The two-month-long annual pilgrimage season at the hill shrine of Sabarimala got underway when the new Melsanthi (head priest) performed regular ‘poojas’ early on Saturday, the first day of Malayalam month Vrischikam.

A heavy rush was witnessed on the opening day. The pilgrims will have a smooth trekking this season with the completion of an underpass at Marakootam. Constructed at a cost of Rs 1 crore, the underpass directly links Swami Ayyappan Road and Chandranandan Road, sparing the pilgrims from climbing the flyover.

Dewasom Board officials say plans have been finalised to construct one more floor to the ‘Valiyanadapandal’ and introduce Tirupati-model queue system. Also a flyover will be constructed linking  sannidanam with Chandranandan Road to reduce the waiting time for darshan.

The first leg of the pilgrimage, the 41-day ‘Mandala’ phase, will culminate with the ‘mandala’ pooja on December 26. It will be followed by ‘Makaravilakku’ with the ‘jyothi darshan’ as its highpoint on January 14.