As the Mandala season began today, a huge number of pilgrims reached the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple to have the darshan of the deity.
The two-month-long annual pilgrimage season at Sabarimala will culminate with the ‘mandala pooja’ on December 27.
The temple will be reopened again on December 30 for ‘Makaravilakku’ with the ‘jyothi darshan’ as its high point on January 14.
K Jayaraman Namboothiri, who took charge as the new ‘melshanti’ on Wednesday, opened the sanctum sanctorum for darshan.