Thiruvananthapuram | With the annual pilgrimage season just weeks away, S Arun Kumar Namboothiri was selected on Thursday as the new Melsanthi (chief priest) of the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple.

Vasudevan Namboothiri from Kozhikode has been chosen as the Melshanti of the Malikappuram temple, situated just 100 meters away from Lord Ayyappa temple.

The selection was made through a traditional draw after the Ushapooja (morning prayer) at Sabarimala temple which was opened for monthly pooja on Wednesday.

Hailing from Sakthikulangara in Kollam district, Arun Kumar Namboothiri was selected through the draw of lots at the 'Sannidhanam,' the temple premises, in the morning.

Rishikesh Varma, a boy from the Pandalam royal family, picked the lot for the Sabarimala Melsanthi.

Similarly, Vaishnavi, a girl from the Pandalam royal family, drew the lot for the Malikappuram Melsanthi.

There were 25 candidates in the preliminary list of priests for Sabarimala and 15 candidates for Malikappuram.

The draw was conducted in the presence of Tantris (head priests) Kandararu Rajeevaru and Kandararu Brahmadathan, along with Devaswom Board President P S Prashanth, board members, and other top officials