As the 'makara jyoti', held as a divine light by the devotees, flickered across the eastern horizon above the Ponnambalamedu after the puja, the holy hillock and the foothill Pampa reverberated with chants of "Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa".
The puja was conducted with the idol of the deity adorned with the holy jewels "Thiruvabharanam", brought to the sanctum sanctorum in a ceremonial procession moments before the 'aarti'.
The sannidhanam (temple complex) atop the hillock and the base camp Pampa have been overflowing with devotees in last few days making it a challenge for police to manage the crowd.
Makara samkramam is considered as an auspicious moment when the sun moves from 'Dhanu rasi' to the 'Makara rasi'.
The annual pilgrimage season, which began in mid-November, will conclude on January 19.
Thousands of pilgrims had reached and camped atop the hill in make-shift tents and shacks, with devotees from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka forming major chunk of them.
A huge crowd of devotees also converged at foothills on the banks of the river Pampa to witness the 'jyothi' and procession of holy jewels, brought from the Pandalam palace where Lord Ayyappa was believed to have spent his childhood according to the belief.
Police and other state agencies made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the final phase of the pilgrimage.
The devotees who worshipped at the shrine on the auspicious moment included Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi and Malayalam star Jayaram.
Over 30 million devotees visited the temple during the pilgrimage season, which passed off largely incident-free.Read more,video photos