lord ayyapan is alive ,ayyapan devotees are alive only problem is corporates and governments.
my first trip to sabarimalai was in 1989 walked in 48 miles continuosly for three years then during tenth public exam holidays (1999) and twice during 12th std and now 2010. so i observed sabarimalai for three decades and its progress. more than bhakthi and revenue sabarimalai is ecolgically sensitive spot and it is true the ayyapan is awesome and lovely. swami vivekananda told "the advancement of science and technology is a blow to religion". it is not a blow to religion but blow to religious people. coz as always we confuse with faith, money and fast track lifestyle. "we all have strength but god alone has power"(from iranian movie). people took sabarimalai lightly as like travelling to other pilrimage spots.
IN 1980'S & 1990"S
how they took sabarimalai fasting?
men lived only in temples ,they hardly spoke to their wivies( including my father)
they just put off all their senses
teachers wont beat in the class if you dnt do home work
they dont attend any family ceremonies
along with the men their wives too strictly follow the woes
i had seen even polices walking in bare foot in duty
everyday all the devoties assemble in temple and they practice certain ways to keep thier spirit up, like singing songs praising ayyapan and getting blessings one from each one. kids are affectionately treated as manikandan (kid ayyapan)
the whole method is coined in such a way that they stay away from the society for a month and they rejuvenate thier body and mind
finally when we start a journey that was highly exiting irrespective of age and caste people fall under our foot when we hold our irumudi(the two packs, one with ghee cocunut)
and when the van starts the women used to cry and they dont say see u later. we wish each other sami saranam
IN 2000
i found huband and wives traveling together some to the extend of traveling in bikes
ayyapan became secondary concern and they paid more attention to their business
there was dilution in everything,usually women encourage to get concession from gurusamy (experienced head person of the team) according to family sentiments women are right but not from spiritual point of view.
heared frequent incidents of accidents on the road sides
fasting became not a big issue, there were more hotels in hills as compare to earlier
IN 2010
many factors gave a blow to the morality of ayyapan devotees
first and foremost nithyanandha factor ,i myself seen many seen me with suspicious eyes, women delebrately adjust their saree and blouse in front of me ,this clearly shows the earlier devotion and fear had gone.
lot of jubbies are seen
and lot of PET litters!!!
cell phone, MNC's bottle drinks,a long que of eatable shops in the hills really irritated me in the recent journey. there was a drastic develpment in the hill path(-ve) since the journey made easy the crowd incread and naturally god move away from that place because anything that gets institutionalised corruption prevails.
PERSONALLY
i still remember my father told to my uncle "i had seen him(me) with such a joy only in these seven days" and added he is not showing this interest in studies.
when i went during 10th std there were jeeps from kumuli ,erimeli to pampa. that journey was ok and the hill too not polluted much. my recent journey is much disturbing the first irritation was that gold plate (liqur mafias are becoming business magnets) there is a concrete leveled path leads to temple (i never expected this) this cretated a stinky urinal smell everywhere. earlier while we walk we attend natures call either near to a big tree or to a bush but now the cncrete paths and iron side pipes allowing the devotees to piss on the side of the road. i was worried that i was greatly missing what i had in my childhood.
whatever it is when we climb the holy 18 steps and see the face of cute ayyapan wwoww all our hardships vanish just like that. that will tempt us to see him again and again.
in the return journey i dont want to miss those childhood adventures so i left my father to walk on the concrete path and started to walk in the donkey pass (the route which donkey take to climb the mountain) awesome experience i had seen those big big trees and plants and felt happy.
traditionally sabarimalai is a SACRED GROOVE concept. our ancestors followed this idea of sacred groove. in order to protect the forest and the species both flora and fauna they declare certains certain hills and forest as sacred groove. they name those area as under the influence of certain spirits and we are not supposed to disturb that.
some may ask then god is not for everyone?
god is for everyone but not everyone should pollute his residing place. this can be understood by nature selection. nature always choose group of people to protect its human race and tradition. we have to be natural friendly and strong to be the part of natural selection otherwise nature itself will eliminate us.
