Sabarimala Gets New Chief Priest Ahead of Manadalam-Makaravilakku

Ahead of the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season the of Lord Ayyappa Swami got a new chief priest. Areekkara Subrahmanyan Sankaran Namboothiri was selected as the new ‘melsanthi’ (chief priest).

Similarly, A Damodaran Namboothiri was selected as the new melsanthi of the Malikappuram Devi Temple, located around 100 metres from the Sabarimala shrine.

Sankaran Namboothiri has served as melsanthi for 21 years at the Nedumangad Bhagavathy Temple, the Kottayam temple, the R K Puram Ayyappa Temple in Delhi and the Thycaud Sastha Temple in Thiruvananthapuram before taking up his current position at the Pazhavangadi Ganapathi Temple. He is a native of Thiruvananthapuram

Damodaran Namboothiri, who hails from Vadakara in Kozhikode district, is currently the melsanthi of the Lord Siva Temple in Keezhur, Payyoli. Both will assume charge for one year on November 16, a day before the Sabarimala temple opens for the Mandalam-Makaravilakku season.

This year the selection process has been much stricter, officials say. The draw of lots was held after the dawn pooja, with seven names in the fray for the Sabarimala post, the officials said.

Expressing his happiness over his selection as chief priest, Sankaran Namboothiri said that he had been applying for this coveted post for some time, but in previous attempts his name used to appear towards the end. He said it was the grace of the lord that this time his name came up first. He said he had been trying for this post since 2020. He also thanked his gurus and ancestors for teaching him pooja rituals.

He said he would most likely visit the Sabarimala temple on Monday to seek the blessings of Lord Ayyappa before assuming charge.

He also conveyed a message to Ayyappa devotees worldwide, promising to serve the deity sincerely during his one-year tenure.