The Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala will open on Saturday but daily rituals will begin from only the next day with devotees being allowed in for five days until October 21 strictly as per booking made on the virtual queue system.

Admissions will also be restricted to those who carry certificates declaring that they are either fully vaccinated (two doses) or have tested RT-PCR negative for not longer than 48 hours from the time of entry.

The temple will open at 5 pm on Saturday for rituals associated with the advent of the Malayalam month of Thulam .

The next day a draw of lots will be conducted to select its next melshanti (head priest), the Travancore Devaswom Board said.

The temple would close on October 21 and then reopen on November 2 as part of the Chithira Attavishesham . Thereafter, on November 3 the temple would close and reopen on November 15 for the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival.

Covid update

Meanwhile on Friday, Kerala reported 8,867 new Covid cases out of 79,554 samples tested returning a test positivity ratio of 11.14 per cent. Number of deaths was at 67, which took the cumulative toll during the pandemic so far to 26,734.

An estimated 93.7 per cent of the eligible population has received the first dose of the vaccine while 44.9 per cent, both first and second doses.

Related Topics