: The annual festival at the Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala began on Friday with the ceremonial ‘kodiyettu’ (temple flag-hoisting) ceremony.

Temple chief priest (Tantri) Kandararu Maheswararu, assisted by head priest (Melsanthi) P.N. Narayanan Namboodiri, conducted the rituals in connection with the kodiyettu. The ceremonial flag was taken out in a customary procession to the accompaniment of the traditional temple percussion before the Kodiyettu ceremony. The Tantri hoisted the flag between 10.15 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. Subhash Vasu, Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) member, and P. Venugopal, Devaswom Commissioner, were present on the occasion.

The Utsavabali ritual will be performed at the Ayyappa Temple in the afternoon from April 5 to 12.

The Pallivetta ceremony will be held at Saramkuthi on the traditional trekking path on April 12. The Pallivetta procession will set

off from the Sannidhanam to Saramkuthi after the Athazhapuja and will return to the Ayyappa Temple by midnight.

The Aratt ceremony marking the culmination of the 10-day festival will be held at the specially prepared Aratt-kadavu in the Pampa on April 13.

The Tantri, assisted by the Melsanthi, will perform the Arattupuja and Utchapuja at the Aratt-kadavu.

Sahasrakalasabhishekom, Kalabhabhishekom, Ashtabhishekom, Udayasthamanapuja, Pushpabhishekom, and Padipuja will be held on all days, except on April 13.