Sabarimala (Kerala), Dec 25 (Reporter) The world famous Lord Ayyappa temple here will be closed after the Mandala Pooja, marking the culmination of the 41-day pilgrimage season on Thursday. The temple will reopen on December 30 for the 'Makaravillaku' festival, which falls on January 14, 2025. The annual ceremonial procession, carrying Thanka Anki, the golden attire offered to Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala by the late Chithira Tirunal Balarama Varma of the erstwhile Travancore Royal Family, reached the hillock temple here from Aranmula Parthasarathy temple, on Wednesday evening. The golden attire was adorned on the idol for Deeparadhana this evening. Lord Ayyappa would also adorn the sacred attire on Thursday for the 'Mandala Pooja' and after the 'Athazha Pooja' in the evening, later the shrine will be closed, marking the culmination of the 41-day pilgrimage season. The golden attire weighing 420 sovereigns was offered by the king in 1973. Since then, it has been a custom to decorate the Ayyappa idol with this before the Mandala Pooja. The procession, which had set off from Sree Parthasarathy temple at Aranmula on December 22, was accompanied by a strong contingent of armed police, Travancore Devaswom Board officials and devotees. The Thanga Anki procession, which reached Sannidhanam, was received by the Kerala Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan, TDB President Advocate PS Prasanth, Tamil Nadu Devaswom Minister PK Sekhar Babu and others. The procession carrying the Thanka Anki in a motorised chariot modelled on a temple visited Nedumbrayar Thevalasseri Devi Temple, Elathoor Narayanamangalam Temple, Omallur Sree Raktha Kanda Swami temple, Pulimukku Vettoor Sree Mahavishnu temple, Muringamangalam Temple, Ranni Ramapuram temple and Perinadu temple. Ahead of Mandala Pooja, the ‘Thanka Anki,’ stored at Aranmula Parthasarathy temple, was taken to Sabarimala with a ceremonial procession, a practice that introduced by the Travancore Devasom Board. The Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple is one of the prominent temples dedicated to Lord Sree Krishna in Kerala. The motorised chariot bearing the sanctified ‘Thanka Anki’ is given a rousing reception with pilgrims gathering in huge numbers at the various points of its transit in Omalloor, Konni, Perinadu and Pamba. The shrine will reopen on December 30 for the 'Makaravillaku' festival, which falls on January14, 2025. Later, the temple will close on January 20, 2025 after the conclusion of the festival of this year. There has been a heavy rush of pilgrims today also to offer prayers to Lord Ayyappa after the arrival of the golden attire...////...