Thiruvananthapruam: Sabarimala Temple will be open for Chithira Aatta Vishesham special pujas on Monday. Sabarimala tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru and melshanthi Unnikrish-nan Namboodiri will open the temple and light the lamp in the sanctum sanctorum at 5 pm on Monday.
On the opening day there would be no special poojas. However, on Tuesday the temple will be opened at 5 am and there will be nirmalyam and abhishekham. This will be followed by special pujas on Chithira Aatta Vishesham, the festival which marks the birth anniversary celebration of Chithira Thi-runal Balarama Varma, the head of erstwhile Travancore royal family, .
Subsequently routine pujas including neyyabhishekham, ganapathy homam, usha puja and uchcha puja will be conducted. The temple will close after Harivarasa-nam at 10 pm on the same day. The temple will open for Mandala puja on Nov-ember 16 evening. The installation ceremony of the new melshanthis of Sabarimala and Malikap-uram will also take place on the same day. The new melshantis will open the temple on Malayalam month beginning from November 17.
