Sabarimala, Oct. 18 -- Areekkara Subrahmanyan Sankaran Namboothiri, currently serving as the chief priest of the Pazhavangadi Ganapathy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, has been selected as the new Melsanthi of the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Kerala.
A Damodaran Namboothiri of Vadakara in Kozhikode district has been chosen as the Melsanthi of the Malikappuram Devi temple.
The selections were made through a traditional draw of lots held at the respective temples on Sunday morning, in the presence of temple authorities.
Devanandan Arjun of the Pandalam royal family drew the lot for the Sabarimala appointment, while Anaswara M Ranjith drew the lot for the Malikappuram temple.
Sankaran Namboothiri, a native of Pulimoodu in Thiruvanant...