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During December and January, Kerala is jam-packed with crowds of men in black or blue dhotis, milling about railway stations and filling trains on their way to the Shri Ayappa forest temple (also known as Hariharaputra or Shasta) at Sabarimala,in the Western Ghat mountains, around 200km from both Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. The Ayappa devotees can seem disconcertingly ebullient, chanting " Swamiyee Sharanam Ayappan " (give us protection, god Ayappa) in a call and response style. Although he is primarily a Keralan deity, Ayappa's appeal has spread phenomenally in the last thirty years across south India, to the extent that this is said to be the second largest pilgrimage in the world, with as many as a million devotees each year. A curious story relates to the birth of Ayappa. One day, when the two male gods, Shiva and Vishnu, were together in a pine forest, Shiva asked to see Vishnu's famed female form Mohini, the divine enchantress. Vishnu refused, having a fair idea of what this could lead to. However, Shiva was undeterred, and used all his powers of persuasion to induce Vishnu to transform. As a result of the inevitable passionate embrace, Vishnu became pregnant, and the baby Ayappa emerged from his thigh. Pilgrims however, are required to remain celibate, abstain from intoxicants, and keep to a strict vegetarian diet for a period of 41 days prior to setting out on the four-day walk through the forest from the village of Erumeli (61km, as the crow flies, northwest) to the shrine at Sabarimala. Rather less devoted devotees take the bus to the village of Pampa, and join the five-kilometer queue. When they arrive at the modern temple complex - a surreal spread of concrete sheds and walkways in the middle of the jungle - pilgrims who have performed the necessary penances may ascend the famous eighteen gold steps to the inner shrine.
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There they worship the deity, throwing donations down a chute that opens onto a subterranean conveyor belt, where the money is counted and bagged for the bank. In recent years, the mass appeal of the Ayappa cult has brought in big bucks for the temple, which now numbers among India's richest, despite being open for only a few months each year. Funds also pour in from the shrine's innumerable spin-off businesses, such as the sale of coconut oil and milk (left by every pilgrim) to a soap manufacturer. The pilgrimage reaches a climax during the festival of Makara Sankranti when massive crowds of over 1.5 million congregate at Sabarimala. On January 14, 1999, 51 devotees were buried alive when part of a hill crumbled under the crush of a stampede. The devotees had gathered at dusk to catch a glimpse of the final sunset of makara jyoti (celestial light) on the distant hill of Ponnambalamedu. Although males of any age and even of any religion can take part in the pilgrimage, females between the ages of nine and fifty are barred. This rule, still vigorously enforced by the draconian temple oligarchy, was contested in 1995 by a bizarre court case. Following complaints to local government that facilities and hygiene at Sabarimala were substandard, the local collector, a 42-year-old woman, insisted she be allowed to inspect the site. The temple authorities duly refused, citing the centuries-old ban on women of menstrual age, but the High Court, who earlier upheld the gender bar, was obliged to overrule the priests' decision. The collector's triumphant arrival at Sabarimala soon after made headline news, but she was still not allowed to enter the shrine proper. We've given advice on how to visit Sabarimala, via a back route beginning at Kumily near the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
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Explore Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
Cardamom Hills
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