The 118th Thiruvabharanam Ghosha Yatra will start from Pandalam tomorrow
On the day of Makara Sankranti, the ceremonial procession carrying the sacred ornaments (Thiruvabharanam) to be adorned on Lord Ayyappa will set out tomorrow from the Pandalam Valiya Koyikkal Temple. Thousands of devotees arrive at the Pandalam temple to have darshan of the Thiruvabharanam. The deeparadhana (lamp worship) with the sacred ornaments will take place on the evening of the 14th Jan.
After the fire of 1902-03 that destroyed the Sabarimala Sree Ayyappa temple, the Thiruvabharanam was brought to Pandalam following the reconstruction of the temple. From that time onward, the Thiruvabharanam Ghosha Yatra began and gradually became one of the most sacred and historically significant processions.
The Thiruvabharanam procession will depart from the Pandalam Valiya Koyikkal Temple tomorrow at 1:00 PM. Devotees will have the opportunity to view and worship the sacred ornaments at the Shrambikkal Palace until morning. After that, the ornaments will be moved in front of the sanctum sanctorum. At 1:00 PM, the members of the Thiruvabharanam bearer group will carry the ornaments on their heads. Shivankutty of Maruthamanayil has been appointed as the Guruswami of the Thiruvabharanam bearer group from this year onward. Shivankutty will carry the main casket on his head. Along with the casket bearers, there will also be palanquin bearers. Exactly at 1:00 PM, when the sacred Sreekrishnaparunthu (holy eagle) circles in the sky, the procession will begin.
This year’s Pandalam Landlord Family representative is P. N. Narayana Varma, an active member of the Sabarimala Karma Samithi and other organizations. Narayana Varma stated that this responsibility is by the command of Lord Ayyappa.
Tomorrow night, the procession will halt at Ayiroor Puthiyakavu Temple, and on the 13th, it will stay at Laha Sathram. Crossing forests and hills, the procession will reach Saramkuthi at 5:00 PM on the 14th, where it will receive a traditional ceremonial welcome. It will then proceed to the Sabarimala Sannidhanam. Only the main casket containing the Thiruvabharanam will be taken in procession to the front of the sanctum sanctorum. At around 6:30 PM, the sacred ornaments will be adorned on the deity followed by deeparadhana. At the same time, the Makara Vilakku will be lit at Ponnambalamedu considered as moolasthanam of Bhagwan Ayyappa, and the Makara star will appear in the sky.
After the Makara Vilakku, for the next five days, festival rituals including ceremonies and processions will be held at the Malamandapam of warrior "mala", a tradition that has continued since the reconstruction following the 1903 fire.
According to Srinivas L, Chairman of the Sabarimala Ayyappa Yuva Seva Samithi, after the 1902–03 fire, the Thiruvabharanam of Sabarimala Sree Ayyappa was taken to Pandalam, the house of the former landlord family. From that point onward, a new Pandalam-centered narrative was promoted—claiming that Ayyappa took Jeeva Samadhi and that the Manikantha prince himself became God. Srinivas L stated that this narrative was deliberately constructed during the colonial period, allegedly with the support of missionary-aligned forces, to erase the original history of Ayyappa, and that the Pandalam family continues to follow this colonial-era mindset even today. He asserted that the truth, however, remains unchanged: Malamandapam, associated with the Ullattan warrior “Mala,” reflects the original tradition, while the administration has been careless from the very beginning in safeguarding Ayyappa’s legacy. He also questioned the absence of the destroyed Sree Maha Vishnu Kshetram, which, according to tradition, Bhagawan instructed to recover and rebuild. Srinivas L emphasized that Bhagawan Ayyappan continues to watch from Ponnambalamedu (Rishimukhi), as affirmed by native Malayalam inscriptions, and not from a samadhi or a palace, stating that these living rock carvings themselves stand as evidence that Ayyappan is the eternal God of Sabarimala.