Thousands of pilgrims from different parts of
the country offered worship at the Lord Ayyappa temple here on the occasion of
'makarasamkramam' this evening, marking the finale of the two month long
pilgrimage to the hill shrine.
Hours
before the sunset, the holy hillock and the base camp Pampa were thronged by
devotees, carrying on their heads
the
offerings to the lord.
The
air resounded with the chant of 'swamiye saranam ayyappa...' as the
'deeparadharana' (arti) was performed at the sanctum sanctorum with the idol of
the presiding deity donned with the glittering 'holy jewels.'
Moments
before the 'deeparadharana', caskets carrying the holy jewels, which were taken
in a procession from the Pandalam
palace about 100 km from here two days ago, had reached the shrine.
One
of world's major pilgrimages, over 30 million devotees were estimated to have
visited the shrine since the season started
in mid-November.Large
contingents of police, fire force and disaster management personnel had been
deployed at the foothills of Pampa,
along the steep trekking path and atop 'Sannidhanam' (temple complex) for crowd
management and security.
The
temple management said there had been a significant increase in arrival of
pilgrims during the 41-day 'mandala
pooja'
season that began in mid-November and 'Makaravilakku' season since January 1.PT
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