The Malayali community in Dhanbad added their unique nuance to Makar Sankranti on Sunday as more than a thousand devotees flocked to Ayappa temple at Jagjivan Nagar to celebrate Makaravilakku.

In Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district, an estimated half a million devotees flow to the Sabarimala shrine every year to have a darshan (vision) of this ritual.

In Dhanbad, the festival saw more than 100 people, who started the rituals at the crack of dawn at the Ayyappa temple with a Ganapati havan.

Garlands and diyas lit up the temple as devotees poured in for a kalash pujan, during which they offered prayers along with priests who were brought from Kerala. The gathering chanted Vedic mantras till noon.

Members of other communities also joined in prayer ceremony, which was followed by a feast on the temple premises. A crowd of well over 1,000 relished the prasad — a traditional platter that included sambhar, papadam and pickles.

Makaravilakku, a big draw at the renowned hill shrine of Sabarimala in Kerala, features the thiruvabharanam (Ayyappan’s sacred ornaments) procession. Lord Ayyappan is believed to be an incarnation of Dharma Sasta — the offspring of Mohini and Shiva.

True to customs, devotees clad in colourful traditional attire took out a grand procession from a nearby Shiva temple to the Ayyappa shrine in the evening. The festival culminated with an aarti

G. Udaya Bhanu, who is the head of department (applied chemistry) at Indian School of Mines and also the president of Ayappa temple management committee, said the festival presented a unique opportunity for people of various communities to come together and appreciate the cultures.

Member of the temple executive committee T.R. Raju pointed out that he had started organising Makaravilakku in the coal belt in 1980 at Gujarati Samaj temple, Jharia. The festival was brought to Dhanbad city after the number of Malayalis came down in Jharia and the Ayappa temple was built at Jagjivan Nagar in 1985. “We have been celebrating Makarvilakku at the Ayappa temple since 1986,” said K. Mohandas, secretary of the temple committee.

Mohandas said the festival was earlier celebrated at the Ayappa temple in Sindri, but from the southern state were employees of the Fertiliser Corporation of India factory, and left after its closure.

The festival was also celebrated at the Ayappa temple in Sector V, Bokaro. Bokaro Steel Limited MD S.S. Mohanty participated in the celebrations.