Thanka Anki sets off to Sabarimala

As preparations for the Mandala Puja at Sabarimala gathers momentum, the ceremonial procession carrying the golden attire, ‘Thanka Anki’, set off from the Sree Parthasarathy Temple at Aranmula on Tuesday.

The procession, on a motorised chariot, will be accorded rousing receptions at different points en route before it reaches Pampa on Friday . The main deity at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple will be adorned with the attire prior to the Mandala Puja the next day morning. As the procession moved along the traditional route, devotees gathered at various points to offer prayers and catch a glimpse of the sacred attire. Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place throughout the journey to the hill shrine.

The temple tantri and the melsanthi will jointly receive the golden attire and adorn it on the idol of Lord Ayyappa later that evening. The Mandala puja, with the deity adorned in the ‘Thanka anki’, will be performed on the afternoon of December 27.

The ritual marks the culmination of the first phase of the nearly two-month-long annual pilgrimage season at Sabarimala. The temple will be closed for two days later on the same day and will be reopened on December 30 for the Makarvilakku festival that begins the next day.

The ‘Thanka Anki’, weighing 420 sovereigns, was offered to the Sabarimala temple by the late Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma of the royal family of erstwhile Travancore in 1973.

Meanwhile, the hill shrine is witnessing a massive influx of devotees in the run-up to the Mandala Puja, with queues from Sannidhanam often stretching all the way to Sharamkuthy. According to estimates, over 1.05 lakh devotees visited the temple on Monday, with almost a similar footfall recorded on Tuesday. The total number of devotees visiting the temple so far this season has now touched 33 lakh.

In view of the Mandala Pooja, restrictions have been imposed on virtual queue bookings and spot bookings at the hill shrine . On December 26, the day when the Thanka Anki procession reaches Sannidhanam, only 30,000 pilgrims will be allowed through the virtual queue while the number will be capped at 35,000 for the next day. On both days, spot bookings have been limited to 2,000 pilgrims each.

Special crowd management arrangements will also be in place on the day the Thanka Anki procession arrives at Sannidhanam. As part of the arrangements, pilgrims will not be allowed to proceed to Sannidhanam from Nilakkal after 9 a.m. and from Pampa after 10 a.m. on December 26. The movement of pilgrims from Pampa will be resumed only after the procession reaches Sharamkuthy