Sabarimala Ayyappa shrine and Malikappuram Devi temple get new chief priests

Sabarimala Ayyappa temple got a new chief priest (called ‘melshanthi’ in Malayalam) in S Arun Kumar Namboothiri. He is currently serving as the chief priest of Lekshminada temple in Kollam. Meanwhile, Vasudevan Namboothiri has been appointed as the chief priest of Malikappuram Devi temple.
Both Arun Kumar and Vasudevan, who were selected through a lottery process, will serve in their respective positions for one year. They will officially assume their duties on November 16, which marks the beginning of the 2024-25 Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season.
Kumar will be the 16th chief priest to serve at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. Arun Kumar’s name was drawn out of the lot of 24 candidates by Rishikesh Varma, the youngest member of the Pandalam royal family, who was representative of the Pandalam Palace.
This is the sixth time Arun’s name has made it to the draw.
Vasudevan’s name was chosen from 15 applicants for the position of chief priest of Malikappuram Devi temple, by a girl child named Vaishnavi representing the Pandalam palace.
Devotees of Lord Ayyappa visit the Malikappuram Devi temple after their pilgrimage at the Sabarimala shrine.
The two priests will be serving at the temples at a time when the Kerala government has decided to open onlin-only darshan bookings for this year.
The draw was conducted in the presence of the observer appointed by High Court TR Ramachandran Nair. Travancore Devaswom Board President PS Prashanth, Devaswom Commissioner CV Prakash, Special Commissioner R Jayakrishnan, and Devaswom members A Ajikumar and G Sundaresan were present for the lottery.
The announcement of the two chief priests was made after Usha pooja (a worship ritual performed at dawn or a little after sunrise). Arun Kumar is a resident of Thottathil Matham, Narayaneeyam, Sakthikulangara in Kollam district. Vasudevan is a resident of Thirumangalathu illam, Olavanna, in Kozhikode district.