The Sabarimala Ayyappa temple on Wednesday witnessed a huge footfall of devotees as it was opened for special pujas and rituals to mark the beginning of the auspicious Malayalam month of Chingam.
The ‘sannidhanam’, the temple premises, reverberated with the holy Ayyappa chants as soon as Melsanthi (chief priest) N Parameshwaran Namboothiri opened the portals of the sanctum sanctorum and lit the lamp under the guidance of tantri (head priest) Kandari Rajeevaru, they said.
Besides the customary pujas, “Laksharchana”, a special ritual, was also held at the shrine.
The shrine would remain open for five days till August 21.
Rituals like “udayasthamaya puja”, “ashtabhishekam”, “kalabhabhishekam”, “padipuja” and so on would be held all these days.
