Monday 23 December 2013

‘Thanka Anki’ procession begins

Photo: ‘Thanka Anki’ procession begins A procession carrying ‘Thanka Anki’, the traditional attire made of 420 sovereigns of gold that was offered to the presiding deity of the Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala by the king of erstwhile Travancore kingdom, set off for the holy hillock from the Sree Parthasarathy Temple at Aranmula on Sunday morning. Hundreds of devotees thronged the Parthasarathy Temple in the morning hours to witness the ceremonial start of the annual procession carrying the golden attire in a motorised chariot modelled on a typical Kerala temple. An Ayyappa idol was decorated with the attire to be taken in a ceremonial procession to Sabarimala for the Mandala puja festival to be held there on December 26. The idol was kept for darshan at the Aanakkottil of the Parthasarathy Temple till 7.15 a.m. Rituals were performed on the idol before it was taken by the Devaswom officials into the decorated chariot to be taken to Sabarimala. M.P. Govindan Nair, Travancore Devaswom Board president; P. Venugopal, Devaswom Commissioner; P.R. Balachandran, Devaswom Secretary; and D. Vijayakumar, Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom national vice-president, were among those who were present on the occasion. The ceremonial procession set off from Aranmula by 7.30 p.m. amidst loud chants and songs of Lord Ayyappa and Lord Krishna. A team of Armed Police is accompanying the procession from Aranmula to Sabarimala. The ‘Thanka Anki’ procession reached Sree Raktakanta Swami Temple at Omalloor near Pathanamthitta in the evening. The other stops of the procession will be Muringamangalam Temple near Konni, where it will reach on Monday and the Sastha Temple at Perinad, where the convoy will halt on Tuesday evening. The procession will finally reach Pampa by Wednesday noon, from where the ‘Anki’ will be taken to the holy hillock in a specially designed wooden box. The Ayyappa Seva Sanghom volunteers and the TDB officials will receive the golden attire at Saramkuthi to hand it over to the TDB authorities on the temple premises. The idol of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity at Sabarimala, will then be adorned with the golden attire and rituals performed. The Mandalapuja will be held between 11.30 p.m. and 12.45 p.m. on Thursday. The temple will be closed after the Athazhapuja in the evening on Thursday, marking the culmination of the 41-day Mandalam pilgrimage season. The Ayyappa Temple will reopen on December 30 for the Makaravilakku festival that begins the next day. The Makaravilakku day falls on January 14.

‘Thanka Anki’ procession begins

A procession carrying ‘Thanka Anki’, the traditional attire made of 420 sovereigns of gold that was offered to the presiding deity of the Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala by the king of erstwhile Travancore kingdom, set off for the holy hillock from the Sree Parthasarathy Temple at Aranmula on Sunday morning.

Hundreds of devotees thronged the Parthasarathy Temple in the morning hours to witness the ceremonial start of the annual procession carrying the golden attire in a motorised chariot modelled on a typical Kerala temple.

An Ayyappa idol was decorated with the attire to be taken in a ceremonial procession to Sabarimala for the Mandala puja festival to be held there on December 26.

The idol was kept for darshan at the Aanakkottil of the Parthasarathy Temple till 7.15 a.m. Rituals were performed on the idol before it was taken by the Devaswom officials into the decorated chariot to be taken to Sabarimala.

M.P. Govindan Nair, Travancore Devaswom Board president; P. Venugopal, Devaswom Commissioner; P.R. Balachandran, Devaswom Secretary; and D. Vijayakumar, Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom national vice-president, were among those who were present on the occasion.

The ceremonial procession set off from Aranmula by 7.30 p.m. amidst loud chants and songs of Lord Ayyappa and Lord Krishna.

A team of Armed Police is accompanying the procession from Aranmula to Sabarimala.

The ‘Thanka Anki’ procession reached Sree Raktakanta Swami Temple at Omalloor near Pathanamthitta in the evening.

The other stops of the procession will be Muringamangalam Temple near Konni, where it will reach on Monday and the Sastha Temple at Perinad, where the convoy will halt on Tuesday evening.

The procession will finally reach Pampa by Wednesday noon, from where the ‘Anki’ will be taken to the holy hillock in a specially designed wooden box. The Ayyappa Seva Sanghom volunteers and the TDB officials will receive the golden attire at Saramkuthi to hand it over to the TDB authorities on the temple premises.

The idol of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity at Sabarimala, will then be adorned with the golden attire and rituals performed. The Mandalapuja will be held between 11.30 p.m. and 12.45 p.m. on Thursday.

The temple will be closed after the Athazhapuja in the evening on Thursday, marking the culmination of the 41-day Mandalam pilgrimage season.

The Ayyappa Temple will reopen on December 30 for the Makaravilakku festival that begins the next day. The Makaravilakku day falls on January 14.
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