Sabarimala to feature devotees’ original songs in temple playlist

Thanks to TDB’s initiative, devotees of Lord Ayyappa will now have the opportunity to offer their own devotional songs at the hill temple of Sabarimala.

The temple board decided to include newly composed devotional songs by ordinary devotees in the list of songs played through the public address system in the temple.

In the statement made by the Travancore Devaswom Board of Directors, it was stated that currently only devotional songs sung by famous singers such as KJ Yesudas and Jayavijaya are played on Sabarimala.

Under the new initiative, original compositions of devotees will also be considered after review by the Devaswom board of directors.

The songwriter, composer, and singer must submit a statement and consent letter declaring that the song is original and free of copyright claims. The songs should be sent on a pen drive to the concerned TDB official at the Sannidhanam (temple complex). After detailed review, the board will decide whether the selected songs will be included in the official playlist.

At Sabarimala, the sanctuary opens at dawn with Yesudas’ ‘Vande Vighneswaram’ and closes at night with his rendition of ‘Harivarasanam’. The temple reopens at 3 pm with the song “Sreekovil Nada Thurannu” sung by Jayavijaya.

The statement stated that various devotional songs will be played among the announcements for pilgrims and new devotional songs will be included in this section.