SABARIMALA

[Mathew Moothasseril]

Sabarimala: All one needs to know
October 18, 2018 4:39 pm Matters India
The temple at Sabarimala is open to people of all religions

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Kochi, Oct. 18, 2018: The last couple of weeks have seen a strong
surge in street-protests and prayer meetings by devotees of Lord
Ayyappa.

The protests began after the Supreme Court lifted age restrictions on
the entry of women into the hilltop temple in Kerala.

After the apex’s court’s landmark ruling last month the raging issue
has divided the southern Indian state with supporters on either side.

The subject reached a flashpoint this week when the temple opened for
the first day of the Malayalam month of Thulam.

Women are participating in large numbers in street-protests and prayer
meetings by devotees of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity at
Sabarimala.

Here’s a primer on the temple, its significance in southern India and
how it makes powerful reverberations among the Hindus in Kerala.

The lore of Ayyappa

The myth of the presiding deity at Sabarimala is connected to the
Pandalam royal dynasty which had settled in present-day parts of
Pathanamthitta after breaking away from the Pandya dynasty.

The King and Queen of Pandalam were believed to be childless. The
story goes that when the King went hunting one day, he found a crying
baby by the side of the river in a forest. Upon inquiring, a sage
advised the king to take the baby home and bring him up as his own
son, which the king eventually did. The child was named Manikandan and
grew up to become the prince of Pandalam.

When Manikandan was 12, the queen of Pandalam developed a sudden
illness and the physician treating her recommended tigress’ milk to
treat her. While everyone shied away from the responsibility of
bringing tigress’ milk from the forest, Manikandan volunteered to do
so.

He not only brings the medicine, but returns to the kingdom himself
riding a tigress, accompanied by several cubs. The king then realizes
that his adopted son is no ordinary child. According to the lore,
Manikandan expresses his desire to renounce the kingdom and all
material wealth and become an ascetic. The king later builds a shrine
for his son, 30 km away atop a hill that eventually became Sabarimala,
where Manikandan acquires a divine form and becomes Ayyappan.

Location of the temple

The shrine of Lord Ayyappa is located atop a hill, 3000 meters above
the sea level, at Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. One
has to trek upwards from Pamba, the base of the hill, to reach the
temple.

The temple is administered by the Travancore Devaswom Board, an
autonomous authority under the state government which manages numerous
other Hindu shrines in the state as well. The Thazhamon Madom is
identified as the main family of priests who look after the temple.

Significance of the pilgrimage

Unlike other Hindu temples in the state, Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha
temple opens for devotees to offer prayers for the first five days of
every month in the Malayalam calendar, as well as during the annual
‘mandalam’ and ‘makaravilakku’ festivals between mid-November to
mid-January.

It is considered one of the biggest pilgrimages in the world, with
millions of people offering prayers at the temple chiefly from the
southern Indian states. Most pilgrims arrive at the temple during the
busy ‘mandalam’ and ‘makaravilakku’ festivals, after they undertake a
rigorous 41-day vratham, or a vow of abstinence.

During this 41-day period, devotees are required to wear only black or
deep blue attire, address each other as ‘swami’, perform daily pujas,
abstain from non-vegetarian food, liquor and sex and not wear
footwear. However, it is not mandatory for everyone to observe the
‘vratham’ to offer prayers at the temple.

In 1991, following a High Court verdict, women of procreating age
between 10 and 50 were barred from trekking to the temple. However,
that HC verdict was overturned by the Supreme Court last week.

The temple’s secular credentials

The temple at Sabarimala is open to people of all religions. In fact,
thousands of devotees who make their way to the temple make it a point
to circumambulate a mosque dedicated to Vavar at Erumely. Different
stories exist about the close friendship between Lord Ayyappa and
Vavar, who is said to have been a warrior. There is also a shrine
dedicated to Vavar close to the main temple complex at Sabarimala.

There is also a Christian connection to the temple. A large number of
devotees also visit the Arthunkal church dedicated to St Andrew and St
Sebastian at Alappuzha on their way to Sabarimala. At the church, many
remove the sacred beads they wear around their neck through their
41-day fast. Ponds at the church are cleaned weeks before the annual
pilgrimage begins.

‘Harivarasanam.’ composed originally by K K S Iyer in Sanskrit, is
recited mandatorily as a lullaby (urakkupattu) before the sanctum
sanctorum closes for the evening every day. A modern and popular
version of the composition by G Devarajan and sung by playback singer
K J Yesudas is played these days when the temple doors are shut every
night.

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*GATHER THE SCATTERED*

Fr Mathew Moothasseril
Sant Thoma Bhavan
Post Box 306
RAMAN MALA
Kolhapur,416 003
Maharashtra
INDIA