This has not been new to me since I've been doing this for the past, I think, nearly 10 years of my life. It is a very different experience altogether, every time I visit him. It gives me some kind of peace that I don't know how to express. I'm talking about my recent visit to the holy shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala. After having been under fasting for more than 48 days, it has been really good to see the lord, which was the ultimate aim. I found this time as very interesting and that's why I chose to write it on to my blog.
It all started on the 23th of February when I started my fasting. I started to chant those mantras that talk a lot about this lord. I started to be as clean as possible. Calm and focused as ever. Those 48+ days have been very difficult for me since people look at you as though you're someone untouchable and separate from a lot. People do not recognize you as a human being. Well no need to talk about the respect that they give you. Atleast for the fasting that you're there for. No, never. Modern people do not care about all those. Being an artificial professional is all they want and nothing else. Anyway the focus was on seeing the lord for a cause and realizing that without pain no one can come up in life and pain is always good. Though it has been difficult, I was waiting for the day to come when we finish our kattunera and start off to Sabarimalai. The adobe of the great Ayyappa. It was an awesome day. April 10,2011. There are so many customs to be followed which are told by your guru and those last few days are really terrible especially in the physical sense. You've to make sure that all the ritual items are ready and all the customs are ready to be followed.
The last day, April 10th, that is, the day of the kattunera, we consume literally nothing. Not even water and we wait for the time when we can do the puja. Once the time comes, it is all full of good signs. We pray the lord to help us see him without any trouble and we offer him the ghee, rice, money, dates, jaggery, fruits, rose water, aval, pori, etc.. We start off and have some nice food to break our fast. We start our journey and reach the river Pamba, after 9 hours. We give what we call as "Tharpanam", meaning a prayer and salute to all the dead souls of our family, and then take a holy dip in Pamba. After offering prayer to our ancestors we start from Pamba to the Sannidanam. First up is the Pamba Ganapathy. We pray Ganapathy to lead us into the forest without any problems and to take us to the Lord. Then we go through the Pandala raja vanam(Forest). The one that comes first in the forest is the Neelimalai Yettram. It is the steep part of the forest. We ascend our way towards the direction of the sannidanam. Once when we think that the steep Neelimalai is over we see that it is the start of Appachi medu(Ascent). Much steep than the previous one, we cross the Appachi medu with the help of the lord. Then we reach Sabari peedam, the place where the old lady, Sabari was given salvation. It is all about endurance. Then starts the plain terrain wherein we start running to reach the lord and bypass the crowd. Once we reach the mandapam, we have a clear view of the 18 steps which denotes the 18 siddhis that a man should attain. With no crowd whatsoever this time, we touch each of the steps and move towards the Sannidanam. Then we come in the platform provided around the Sannidanam, now with the golden shrine right in front of our eyes. We get closer to the Sannidanam. After being in the queue, we take a glimpse at the god. The face that is so peaceful. Crushes all the problems that you've in your life. It is a face that is never forgettable. A face that always lingers in your mind. A wonderful sense of feeling that is hard to describe and express. I told you that this time was a little different. I'll tell you the difference. I got the opportunity to take a glimpse at the god for three times. I was able to see the idol three times and that has not happened in my life before. You just can't take the eyes from the lord. Such a calm face that is hard to find in the entire world.
It all started on the 23th of February when I started my fasting. I started to chant those mantras that talk a lot about this lord. I started to be as clean as possible. Calm and focused as ever. Those 48+ days have been very difficult for me since people look at you as though you're someone untouchable and separate from a lot. People do not recognize you as a human being. Well no need to talk about the respect that they give you. Atleast for the fasting that you're there for. No, never. Modern people do not care about all those. Being an artificial professional is all they want and nothing else. Anyway the focus was on seeing the lord for a cause and realizing that without pain no one can come up in life and pain is always good. Though it has been difficult, I was waiting for the day to come when we finish our kattunera and start off to Sabarimalai. The adobe of the great Ayyappa. It was an awesome day. April 10,2011. There are so many customs to be followed which are told by your guru and those last few days are really terrible especially in the physical sense. You've to make sure that all the ritual items are ready and all the customs are ready to be followed.
The last day, April 10th, that is, the day of the kattunera, we consume literally nothing. Not even water and we wait for the time when we can do the puja. Once the time comes, it is all full of good signs. We pray the lord to help us see him without any trouble and we offer him the ghee, rice, money, dates, jaggery, fruits, rose water, aval, pori, etc.. We start off and have some nice food to break our fast. We start our journey and reach the river Pamba, after 9 hours. We give what we call as "Tharpanam", meaning a prayer and salute to all the dead souls of our family, and then take a holy dip in Pamba. After offering prayer to our ancestors we start from Pamba to the Sannidanam. First up is the Pamba Ganapathy. We pray Ganapathy to lead us into the forest without any problems and to take us to the Lord. Then we go through the Pandala raja vanam(Forest). The one that comes first in the forest is the Neelimalai Yettram. It is the steep part of the forest. We ascend our way towards the direction of the sannidanam. Once when we think that the steep Neelimalai is over we see that it is the start of Appachi medu(Ascent). Much steep than the previous one, we cross the Appachi medu with the help of the lord. Then we reach Sabari peedam, the place where the old lady, Sabari was given salvation. It is all about endurance. Then starts the plain terrain wherein we start running to reach the lord and bypass the crowd. Once we reach the mandapam, we have a clear view of the 18 steps which denotes the 18 siddhis that a man should attain. With no crowd whatsoever this time, we touch each of the steps and move towards the Sannidanam. Then we come in the platform provided around the Sannidanam, now with the golden shrine right in front of our eyes. We get closer to the Sannidanam. After being in the queue, we take a glimpse at the god. The face that is so peaceful. Crushes all the problems that you've in your life. It is a face that is never forgettable. A face that always lingers in your mind. A wonderful sense of feeling that is hard to describe and express. I told you that this time was a little different. I'll tell you the difference. I got the opportunity to take a glimpse at the god for three times. I was able to see the idol three times and that has not happened in my life before. You just can't take the eyes from the lord. Such a calm face that is hard to find in the entire world.
A Lord with utmost patience!!Man takes advantage of everything and Lord Ayyappa is also not an exception. Man finds business opportunities everywhere and that is what is happening there also. The pilgrims take their ghee that they've brought and they bring it for the abhishekam to the sannidanam. What these priests do is that they give only half of what the pilgrims had given to them after doing the abhisekam. Rest of the ghee is given as Abhisheka nei(ghee) prasadam at a rate of Rs.40/- to the pilgrims. Man finds a business anywhere and people also fall for it because they have a belief. Exploitation of the feelings of the pilgrims takes place. People sell the abhisheka viboothi(holy ash) and mint money. Even the god will turn on the other side and sit, telling that "I don't want to see all these with my eyes." That is what has been created over there by the devasthanam people.New thing at Sabarimala is the slipper shops at the top near the sannidanam. People go to the temple, see the lord comeback and wear chappals for the rest of their journey. We do not wear slippers because, one, we give a due respect to the mala that we wear, second, we give a lot of respect to ourselves. It is said that we bear the god in us for which we give respect. All these happen. Where ever you go in Sabarimala you can see your money getting looted in some way or the other. It has changed a lot now. It is not the Sabarimala where you can find only the god and not many people. Now people have taken over.
Lord over there does not change. Yet it feels something special every year. The lord has taught me patience, calmness, positiveness, good thoughts and I feel like I've been lucky enough to see the lord for 10 times, each time with a difference. The moment I see the lord every worry gets off and it feels like it is great. I don't know, as I always say, whether others like it or not, it is a place that fills up the heart with goodness. It is a sense of success that you've. All because of the "Divyadarisanam"
Lord over there does not change. Yet it feels something special every year. The lord has taught me patience, calmness, positiveness, good thoughts and I feel like I've been lucky enough to see the lord for 10 times, each time with a difference. The moment I see the lord every worry gets off and it feels like it is great. I don't know, as I always say, whether others like it or not, it is a place that fills up the heart with goodness. It is a sense of success that you've. All because of the "Divyadarisanam"
"Swamiye Sharanam Ayyapa"
-SATZ
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