Sabari Mala Trip II

...Contd from Sabari Mala Trip I
While getting down any hill, one needs to be very careful as it's tougher and calls for great caution. But it goes without saying that it will be enjoyable. There won't be any control on one's own legs. Just that we start and go along with the momentum and take great effort to stop. Sabari mala is no different - especially with the 75 degree Appachi Medu and Neeli mala to be treaded down :). It was raining and drizzling in top of that!! Balaji, amounted for the maximum fun yet again - be it scheming against carrying the prasadam container or holding the side bars tightly and taking one step after another or tackling fast runners from behind, providing us with a running commentary through out as to how one has to approach getting down a hill :). At some point, Anand just couldn't stand the comedy anymore that he sat down and laughed and curious on lookers felt he was sick tried to offer help :). Like last year, I had kaapa kanji and kattan chai etc. on the way and signalled our reaching kanni moola ganapathi shrine with a tender coconut :)

When the entire team arrived, again Balaji expressed his anxiety over how to reach Kottayam for catching his train to Mumbai. After huge discussions, it was decided that he will be dropped at Pattanamthitta. Well, we got down after worshipping Kanni Moola Ganapathi and Pampa and praying for the next visit, we boarded a bus to Nilakkal, the place where all vehicles will be parked.

After successfully completing Erumeli and Sabarimala it was time to visit the other three adobes of Ayyappa. So, off we went to Kulathupuzha (It's very close to Pattanamthitta where Balaji got down and we had our dinner), where we were accomodated in the temple mantapa.

Kulathupuzha:

This is one of the adobes of Ayyappa, where He is a Balaka or Child. It's a small temple on the banks of a puzha or river. We had a bath in the river and the water was really good. The temple, had the main deity and shrines for Naga (snake God), Bhagavathi (in a peculiar pose as if She was dancing or saluting) and of course Ganesha. One more interesting thing is the number of varieties of fish in the river (We offered puffed rice (pori), groundnut etc. to the fish). For more on the legends of Kulathupuzha read Prasad's blog.

Ariyankavu:

This is on the Thenmala hills in the Kottayam - Senkottai route. A very picturesque drive with many hair pin bends et all. Here, Lord Ayyappa is in the form of Ayyan - the deity looks very much like the One in Sabarimala. The temple also is on the banks of a water body (I don't know which one) and has shops selling spices and fruits available in the nearby forest.

Achan Kovil:

After Ariyankavu, we were to go to Achan Kovil. We somehow had a great urge from the beginning to visit this temple. The temple is in the midst of a thick forest (20 km ride inside the forest) near Senkottai. The ride was awesome. The driver din't want to take us there but we made sure we go. We started only around 11 AM and we thought that the temple will be
closed from 12 noon till 4 PM. So we were under great tension :). But we reached the temple in roughly 70 min and came to know that the temple closes roughly at 1:30 PM. We had a lot of time and had a great Darshan. Well, in Achan Kovil, Lord Ayyappa is a King, with his consorts - Purna and Pushkala - They are not females but embodiments of completeness and wealth.
The legend says that Here Lord Ayyappa can bestow one with wealth and other earthly needs as he is a King himself while at Sabari mala he can give knowledge and contentment as He is a Yogi/Sanyasi there :) One more legend in Achan Kovil is that the sandal prasadam here can and will cure any venomous snake bite. This link has a good account on Achan kovil and it's legends.

Really happy that I was able to visit all the 5 adobes of Ayyappa.
The remaining part of the trip was in Tamil Nadu and will be covered in the next part of the blog :)
Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa
.... To Be Contd ......

Sabari Mala Trip I

I was blessed with my second Sabari mala trip (Dec 7 - Dec 11). The first part of our trip will be covered in this blog.

We were to have "Irumudi Kattu" and leave on Dec 07, 2008(Sunday) from Hosur. Like last year, my mother had come to Bangalore a day earlier. She along with my aunt and cousin started early morning and reached Hosur on time (Thanks to them!!). This time, the kattu was in a Ganesha temple. Needless to say, the atmosphere was awesome and compelling. All the kattus were over and by 11:30 we had a great lunch (prasadham) and were ready to leave.

We had left Hosur by 11:45. The vehicle was not upto the mark and the driver's attitude was pathetic and that proved to be the only hitch in the otherwise fantastic trip. After all you need something which is not good!! That's life :). On the way, we had a bath in river Bhavani (I guess), between Salem and Karur. This time we had three kanni samis (first timers - last year I was one). One was Vikram (V) and the other one Balaji (B). Both are funny people in their own rights. B was explaining his experience at the Baghu Bali temple and that became a code word for all of us at various instances. We also had a lot of arguments (political / religious / junk) through out which added spice to the travel :). V was sleeping royally, come what may...

We reached Erumeli only at 6 AM on Monday (The van driver had hit a cow / calf / bull not sure what) on the way. He was dozing through out as we were. At Erumeli, we visited the Petta Sastha temple, Vavuru Samadhi and the Dharma Sastha temple (Erumeli is one of the five adobes of Ayyappa swami - I will write in detail in the next blog). V and B were supposed to do
Petta Thullal, but they din't just as I din't in the last year :). Erumeli is the start of the peria padhai, the 50 km ascent to Sabari mala. As we din't take that path (we take the smaller path 8 km from Pampa), we got Sarams (for first timers) and knife (for second timers - me :)) there and we started to Pampa by van.

Pampa, is the holy river at the foots of the Sabari mala ascent (before Neeli mala). Mythology says, that Ayyappa was found in the banks of Pampa with a bell tied around his neck when king of Pandalam, Rajasekara Pandian found him. As is the ritual, we took bath in Pampa, carried the Irumudi and started the ascent. Irumudi is a holy package containing ghee filled coconut and rice (mainly) on the front side and two more coconuts in the back with or without other things that the traveller may require. After Pampa, one will reach the Kanni Moola Ganapathi shrine (where coconut should be broken as an offering), go up Neeli mala, Appachi medu and Sabari peetam. Our team's protocol is that no one should go beyond Subramanya padhai until the entire team reches there. During the ascent, Balaji was lured by pineapple vendors and was pressed by some external force (!!!) not allowing him to climb and he was successful in not carrying the ghee container (giving weird reasons) et all. All these added to our fun quotient.

Once the entire team reached, we were lucky enough to get a by pass and reached the Holy 18 steps and the Sannidhanam in no time and our darshan was over by 5 PM :) :) :). Everyone was emotional at the great Darshan bestowed on us by Him. We got a room to stay. Throghout the evening, we were able to have many Darshans (thanks to Him).

I and Anand had the opportunity of going for the Ghee Abhishekam the same night. The Ghee Abhishekam, starts at 4 AM everyday and goes on till 11 AM, but one has to join the Q, the previous night itself for a early completion next morning. We went to the Q at 10 PM in the night and was shocked to see some 10 layers before us, all sleeping in the Q. We were intelligent enough to define a new end (at the 4th layer) to the existing Q and soon there were people joining after us :) (trend setters). We were in the open and had very less space. Anand made himself into an 'S' and managed to sleep and even snored on top of that (gifted soul). All was well, when suddenly at 00:45 someone in the area shouted "Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa". That was enough for the sleepy members of the Q, who were disoriented in space and time, to think that the Darshan has started and there was a huge commotion. We used the commotion to move to the first layer of the Q :). From 0045 to 0400, the time flew and the next morning we were able to see the Ghee Abhishekam Darshan and back to the room at 5:30 (on Tuesday).

Then we saw many more Darshans, finished darshan of Malikapurathamma (the female deity there), ate Panchamirtham (4 rounds :)) and started getting down.

Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa
.... To Be Contd ......