SABARIMALAI

UNIQUENESS

Come November, begins then the Mandalapuja! There goes up then crescendo after crescendo of the resonant cadences of the holy name of Ayyappa, soaring higher and higher to reach, as it were, the snow-bound abode of the Lord of Kailas to invite Him to Sabarimalai for witnessing the colorful spectacles of the multisplendoured glory of His youngest son, giving darsan to lass of devout Bhaktas, reaching his Sannidhi, by trekking scores of miles with Irumudi on heads, japamalas in hands, and uttering 'Swamiye Saranam - Saranam Ayyappa, throughout the journey. 

Beginning from mid - November to mid-January, one can observe congregations of Ayyappa adorers, draped in black or yellow, adorning the foreheads and arms with stripes of ash marks across, going about in great hurry through lanes and by lanes to the make-shift Ayyappa shrines, sprouted in the street corners of slums, and spacious quadrangles of posh mansions, reverberating with devotional songs, in praise of the glorious life of that Hari Haraputra, whose miraculous miracles, ushered in an era of democracy in the ritualistic form of worship - a novel and much- needed tradition though preached by almost all cults, ever since the religious awakening in man, alas! never implemented, much less honoured, anywhere in any religion, and at any time. 

In the East or West too. The mush-room growth of Ayyappa Sangas is a sure a sign of the spectacular change, the cult has inducted in the psyche of the asthika commonwealth that the high caste grey-haired orthodox turned Ayyappa pays homage to the outcaste, nomad turned Ayyappa, the very next moment of his becoming spiritual sadhaka, inaugurated with the wearing of japamala after due propitation to the holiest Dharma Sastha. 

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