As preparations for the Mandala Puja in Sabarimala gather momentum, a gold-clad ‘Thanka Anki’ procession took off from Sree Parthasarathy Temple in Aranmula on Tuesday.
The motorcade will be given raucous receptions at various points along the way before arriving in Pampa on Friday. The main deity at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple will be adorned with a garment before the Mandala Puja the next morning. As the procession moved along the traditional route, devotees gathered at various places to offer prayers and catch a glimpse of the sacred garment. Elaborate security measures were put in place during the journey to the hill shrine.
The temple tantri and melsanthi together accept the golden garment and decorate it with the idol of Lord Ayyappa later that evening. Mandala puja with deity decorated in ‘Thanka anki’ will be performed on December 27 afternoon.
The ritual marks the culmination of the first phase of the nearly two-month annual pilgrimage season at Sabarimala. The temple will be closed on the same day two days later and will reopen on December 30 for the Makarvilakku festival that begins the following day.
“Thanka Anki” weighing 420 sovereigns was offered to the Sabarimala temple by late chithira thirunal barama varma of the Erstwhile Travancore royal family in
Meanwhile, the hill shrine witnesses a massive influx of devotees in the lead-up to the Mandala Puja, with queues from the Sannidhanam often stretching all the way to Sharamkutha. According to estimates, over 1.05 million devotees visited the temple on Monday, almost a similar number was recorded on Tuesday. The total number of devotees who have visited the temple so far this season has now reached 33 thousand.
In view of the Mandala Pooja, restrictions have been imposed on virtual queue and on-site reservations at the hill shrine. On December 26, the day the Thanka Anki procession reaches the Sannidhanam, only 30,000 pilgrims will be admitted through a virtual queue, while the number will be limited to 35,000 for the next day. Seat reservations have been limited to 2,000 pilgrims each for both days.
Special crowd management measures will also be put in place on the day the Thanka Anki procession reaches the Sannidhanam. As part of the measure, pilgrims will not be allowed to proceed to Sannidhanam from Nilakkal after 9 am and from Pampa after 10 am on December 26. The movement of the pilgrims from Pampa will be resumed only after they reach Saramkutha by procession.
Published – 23 Dec 2025 19:52 IST
