I just returned from a week long trip to Sabarimala. I returned fresh and spiritually rejuvenated after having darshan of Lord Ayyappan.
I took the decision to take the trip at the spur of the moment when my colleague asked me If I would be interested. After I said "Yes" things began to happen; I wore the mala on 4th November 07 and for 41 days had a serene spiritual existence by making slight adjustments to a life already disciplined during my growing years.
- Started bathing in cold water instead of hot water and did this twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening instead of just the mornings
- I offered prayers twice a day with Naivedyam instead of just once in the morning
- Earlier I used to drink Tea before my bath. But that was changed to taking Tea after offering my prayers in the morning
- A visit to the temple, usually twice a day, but once definitely was a routine. Visiting Ayyappan temples is a priority but I managed to visit only the Ayyappan temple in Anna Nagar
- Attended all but one Ayyappa bhajan conducted by the group
- A life of celibacy is a must so I abstained
I don't smoke or eat non-vegetarian food but drink alcohol on social occasions so there weren't any cravings. But I did face some challenges in terms of food since I travelled a lot on official trips abroad during this period. I'd had to be carefull in restaurants while choosing dishes to ensure they don't contain even traces of egg. Most dishes will catch you unaware as they are passed of as Vegetarian.
And so 41 days just whizzed past. One week before the trip my soles had some swelling and I couldnt place my feet on the ground. I was limping. My family was anxious. I had a pus formation in the sole, apparently during this period I used to walk barefoot to the temple and it had rained one day and my soles had become soft. I remember that I had stepped on a stapler pin but then removed it immediately. But then here it was giving me trouble. So on the midnight of 10th Dec 07 I went to the nearby RIGID hospital and had the pus surgically removed, not everyone was happy at Home, Office or in the Sabarimala Group to see me with a big bandage around my ankle. The decision to go for surgery paid off and the pain slowly receded. My hopes of walking on Sabrimala slowly returned with each passing day.
On 14th December 07 we (about a 100 people!) had the "Coconut Rubbing" function and on 15th we had the Irumudi Pooja at 3pm and boarded the Trivandrum Mail at 8:00 pm at Madras Central Station. This is probably my lightest trip. I usually travel heavy - Laptop bag a mid sized ballistic Nylon suitcase heavy enough to get past the aircraft checkin counters but this time it was just my Irumudi bag and my Shoulder bag. The shoulder bag had few items of clothing - 2 sets of vests and briefs, 2 sets of Veshti and Shirt; a wollen shawl, a bedsheet, a small plate and tumbler, a torch and its batteries, Some Toiletries - Toothbrush, Tongue Cleaner, Paste, Small Soap, Talcum Powder; Some Medicines - Combitide and Asthalin inhalers ( I am a borderline asthmatic), Imol, Azithral, Norflox TZ, Electral, Plaster and Bandages.
The Eveready torch light was disappointing with 2 dry cells giving only 9 Lumens of illumination. I should have carried my Maglite it gives out about 14 Lumens. I thought I needed a bigger one and so picked up one at Ratna Stores in Pondy Bazaar. A costly mistake. I would have loved to take a SureFire Torch.
We reached Kottayam the next morning at about 8am and took the bus to Peermedu. The temperature at Peermedu was so low that the chill wind could be felt in our bones even mid-afternoon. After lunch we took rest followed by tea and a trip to a Krishna temple close by followed by a bhajan and then dinner. Guruswamy told us we'd leave for Pillmedu at 6am the next morning.
We woke up at about 3am and packed breakfast for the group and boarded our buses at 6am we then alighted at Kumily and Took the KSRTC bus and reached Pillmedu at 8:00am from where we began our 13 km trek with our Irumudi bag on our heads and our shoulder bags to the Sannidhanam. We briefly stopped someplace in middle of the forest and had breakfast and resumed the trek. At one particular place I smelt elephant dung and told my fellow swami's in the group who acknowledged that they smelt it too, so I guess these pachyderms must have been somewhere close by. This route is treacherous and difficult and elephant and tiger sightings are common I believe. We were lucky! After 4 hours at about quarter past 12 we reached the Sannidhanam and dropped our shoulder bags and went for darshan with our Irumudi bags, climbed the 18 steps and had darshan of Lord Ayyappan.
We stayed in Sabarimala for two nights, during this time I had several darshans of Lord Ayyappan including the Pushpa Alankaram where I had the good fortune of carrying a basket full of flowers for the Lord. I also had the last darshan the next day before the Nada is closed to the tune of Hariharasanam. I also visited the Panchamatha Devi temple and rolled the coconut (Rs. 7), kept blouse pieces (Rs 50 for the blouse piece, Rs 7 for the ticket and Rs. 10 for the Poojari) and had it blessed by the Lord, did the Vedi Vadipadu (bursting crackers in your name) for Rs 5 . I was lucky to get a bell, every swami who goes to Sabarimala for the third time ties a bell its a belief that the person who gets it is lucky.
I bought a Ayyappan diary (by Nightingale, Srinivasa Fine Arts) and asked my Guruswamis to sign it. I'd like to keep it as a memory of my first trip.
On the 19th December we began our descent to Pamba at 6am and enroute I performed the Saranguthi which every Kanniswami should perform when he visits Sabarimala. It is usually done before reaching Sabarimala and since we took the Pillmedu route I had to be content in doing it only during my return journey. At about 7:30 am we were at the Kannimoola Ganapthy Temple. After a quick breakfast (I skipped) we took the KSRTC bus to Erumeli switched to our chartered buses to reach Kottayam at 12:30 pm. We had lunch, rest and some tea and then reached the railway station. We took the Trivandrum - Chennai mail at 5:30 pm for Chennai. The next day we reached Chennai Central at 7:15 am went directly to Guruswamy's house and removed our Mala and then returned home spiritually content of having had a memorable darshan.
And so 41 days just whizzed past. One week before the trip my soles had some swelling and I couldnt place my feet on the ground. I was limping. My family was anxious. I had a pus formation in the sole, apparently during this period I used to walk barefoot to the temple and it had rained one day and my soles had become soft. I remember that I had stepped on a stapler pin but then removed it immediately. But then here it was giving me trouble. So on the midnight of 10th Dec 07 I went to the nearby RIGID hospital and had the pus surgically removed, not everyone was happy at Home, Office or in the Sabarimala Group to see me with a big bandage around my ankle. The decision to go for surgery paid off and the pain slowly receded. My hopes of walking on Sabrimala slowly returned with each passing day.
On 14th December 07 we (about a 100 people!) had the "Coconut Rubbing" function and on 15th we had the Irumudi Pooja at 3pm and boarded the Trivandrum Mail at 8:00 pm at Madras Central Station. This is probably my lightest trip. I usually travel heavy - Laptop bag a mid sized ballistic Nylon suitcase heavy enough to get past the aircraft checkin counters but this time it was just my Irumudi bag and my Shoulder bag. The shoulder bag had few items of clothing - 2 sets of vests and briefs, 2 sets of Veshti and Shirt; a wollen shawl, a bedsheet, a small plate and tumbler, a torch and its batteries, Some Toiletries - Toothbrush, Tongue Cleaner, Paste, Small Soap, Talcum Powder; Some Medicines - Combitide and Asthalin inhalers ( I am a borderline asthmatic), Imol, Azithral, Norflox TZ, Electral, Plaster and Bandages.
The Eveready torch light was disappointing with 2 dry cells giving only 9 Lumens of illumination. I should have carried my Maglite it gives out about 14 Lumens. I thought I needed a bigger one and so picked up one at Ratna Stores in Pondy Bazaar. A costly mistake. I would have loved to take a SureFire Torch.
We reached Kottayam the next morning at about 8am and took the bus to Peermedu. The temperature at Peermedu was so low that the chill wind could be felt in our bones even mid-afternoon. After lunch we took rest followed by tea and a trip to a Krishna temple close by followed by a bhajan and then dinner. Guruswamy told us we'd leave for Pillmedu at 6am the next morning.
We woke up at about 3am and packed breakfast for the group and boarded our buses at 6am we then alighted at Kumily and Took the KSRTC bus and reached Pillmedu at 8:00am from where we began our 13 km trek with our Irumudi bag on our heads and our shoulder bags to the Sannidhanam. We briefly stopped someplace in middle of the forest and had breakfast and resumed the trek. At one particular place I smelt elephant dung and told my fellow swami's in the group who acknowledged that they smelt it too, so I guess these pachyderms must have been somewhere close by. This route is treacherous and difficult and elephant and tiger sightings are common I believe. We were lucky! After 4 hours at about quarter past 12 we reached the Sannidhanam and dropped our shoulder bags and went for darshan with our Irumudi bags, climbed the 18 steps and had darshan of Lord Ayyappan.
We stayed in Sabarimala for two nights, during this time I had several darshans of Lord Ayyappan including the Pushpa Alankaram where I had the good fortune of carrying a basket full of flowers for the Lord. I also had the last darshan the next day before the Nada is closed to the tune of Hariharasanam. I also visited the Panchamatha Devi temple and rolled the coconut (Rs. 7), kept blouse pieces (Rs 50 for the blouse piece, Rs 7 for the ticket and Rs. 10 for the Poojari) and had it blessed by the Lord, did the Vedi Vadipadu (bursting crackers in your name) for Rs 5 . I was lucky to get a bell, every swami who goes to Sabarimala for the third time ties a bell its a belief that the person who gets it is lucky.
I bought a Ayyappan diary (by Nightingale, Srinivasa Fine Arts) and asked my Guruswamis to sign it. I'd like to keep it as a memory of my first trip.
On the 19th December we began our descent to Pamba at 6am and enroute I performed the Saranguthi which every Kanniswami should perform when he visits Sabarimala. It is usually done before reaching Sabarimala and since we took the Pillmedu route I had to be content in doing it only during my return journey. At about 7:30 am we were at the Kannimoola Ganapthy Temple. After a quick breakfast (I skipped) we took the KSRTC bus to Erumeli switched to our chartered buses to reach Kottayam at 12:30 pm. We had lunch, rest and some tea and then reached the railway station. We took the Trivandrum - Chennai mail at 5:30 pm for Chennai. The next day we reached Chennai Central at 7:15 am went directly to Guruswamy's house and removed our Mala and then returned home spiritually content of having had a memorable darshan.
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