Kochi: A large crowd of devotees thronged the temple of Lord Ayyappa in Kerala's famous Sabarimala on Sunday. The annual pilgrimage lasting two months is the second day of 'Mandal-Makarvilakku' on Sunday. Chief priest AK Sudhir Namboodri opened the sanctum sanctorum of the temple at three in the morning and performed special pujas - Archana - 'Nayyabhishekam' and 'Mahaganapathi Homam' (worship of Lord Ganesha).

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After worshiping by the priest, devotees who arrived in a number of thousands offered prayers at the temple. On Saturday, the doors of the temple were opened amidst tight security, and on the first day, thousands of devotees appeared amidst tight security. On the first auspicious day of the Malayalam month 'Scorpionom', when the doors of the temple were opened, Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran, Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) chief N Vasu, TDB member N Vijayakumar and KS Ravi and Devaswom commissioner M Harshan were among many other dignitaries People were present.

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The Devaswom Minister has called a high-level meeting of officials of all departments at the Sannidhanam guest house on Sunday. The first contingent of policemen took over the reins of security on Saturday. The Devaswom Board, which manages the temples in the state, has made elaborate arrangements to provide all facilities to the devotees. On the very first day, the police returned 10 women of the restricted age group on the way.

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