Makaravilakku celebrated at Sabarimala

Thousands of devotees gather at Sabarimala for Makaravilakku festival, with heavy crowds and elaborate security arrangements in place.

Amid an unprecedented rush of devotees who had been camping in and around the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple for the past few days, the Makaravilakku festival was celebrated at the hill shrine on Tuesday (January 14, 2025).

Braving the heavy crowd, thousands of devotees waited for hours to catch a glimpse of the Makarajyoti, the celestial star that appears on the eastern horizon of the Sannidhanam, and the Makaravilakku deeparadhana, performed atop the Ponnambalamedu hillock facing the temple.

The entire pilgrimage zone, including surrounding hills, had been packed with crowds for days, all eagerly awaiting the twilight spectacle. Rooftops of buildings, hillsides facing the east, and grasslands in the Sabarimala forests were occupied by devotees.

Before the ritual, Kulathinal Gangadharan Pillai, who headed a 26-member team carrying the sacred jewels from the Pandalam palace, handed over the jewellery box to Tantri Kantararu Rajeevaru and Melsanthi Arunkumar Namboothiri. The ceremony was attended by dignitaries including Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan, Tamil Nadu Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P.K. Shekhar Babu, and Travancore Devaswom Board President P.S. Prashanth. The deity was adorned with the ‘thiruvabharanam,’ and the deeparadhana was performed at 6:40 p.m.

Devotion reached a feverish pitch when the deeparadhana was performed atop Ponnambalamedu, and the bright flame of Makaravilakku was sighted three times at around 6:43 p.m. Along with those at the Sannidhanam, devotees stationed at various vantage points around the Sabarimala hills witnessed the celestial light. The police had implemented elaborate security arrangements at all these locations.

The Makarasankrama puja was performed at the Ayyappa temple earlier in the day.

To manage the influx of devotees, authorities opened additional parking grounds at Nilackal. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operated 800 buses to accommodate the rush, while 5,000 police officers were deployed across the districts of Kottayam, Idukki, and Pathanamthitta to ensure smooth crowd management.