A trip to Sabarimala after a gap of 23 years

RO water plants, e-toilets and ATMs have come up en route to shrine

By Praveen Kumar | NT

Bengaluru: Any pilgrimage, they say, happens only when the deity intends to give his darshan to the devotee. Accordingly, I was considering visiting the Sabarimala temple. at short notice, The tickets were booked online and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) which looks after online booking allotted my family me and and their friends an opportunity to have the darshan on Wednesday (January 12). My three earlier darshans had happened from 1996 to 1999 while I was pursuing my graduation at Christ College on Hosur Road.

Strict COVID guidelines have to be followed, pilgrims who have taken two doses of vaccination or have a RT-PCR negative certificate not older than 72 hours are entitled to visit the temple. Documents such as identity proof, a passport photograph and proof of vaccination are mandatory while booking the tickets online.

I reside in Bengaluru and travelled to Hosur to accompany the other eight pilgrims. After completing the Irumudi rituals at the Ayyappa Swamy Temple which is run by TDB, nine of us traveled in a mini bus to the Sabarimala Temple located at Sabarimala hill inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Perinad village of Pathanamthitta district in Kerala. The temple is situated on a hilltop amidst 18 hills and is surrounded by dense forests.

We took the Hosur-Theni- Kumily-Erumely-Nilakkal- Pampa Road.Enroute, the police who were deployed at check posts ensured that all COVID guidelines were followed by the pilgrims. The police also ensured that those traveling in vehicles were wearing masks and carrying vaccination reports. At one point we were fined Rs 200 as one of us was not wearing a mask.

There was no hardship traveling on the road except for the ghat section where a new road is being laid. Post midnight, traffic on the ghat came to a sudden halt for almost four hours as a roadside electric pole had fallen on the road. The trip resumed after the concerned authorities cleared the damaged electric pole.

The visit to Vavar mosque known reverently as Vavarswamy Mosque at Erumely really surprised me as the place was not the same which it was 23 years back. Earlier the mosque was visible from a far distance, but now the mosque has a modern look due to the renovation work.

Then the traveling continued to Nilakkal, a remote ghat considered a halting place for Ayyappa devotees. The online tickets were verified at the police desk. The vaccination report or the RT-PCR report was verified again to check its authenticity. Only after the verification proces were devotees allowed to travel towards Sabarimala. At Nilakkal, a group of volunteers from Hyderabad were serving free Pongal and sambar to the devotees.

The Kerala police who are enforcing the strict plastic ban were checking vehicles to see if anybody carried water in plastic bottles. Regular announcements were being made by the public relations office desk in over five languages to help the devotees.

After the screening, we were allowed to travel in our vehicle till Pampa. After dropping us, the vehicle returned to Nilakkal as no parking arrangements were made at Pampa. Vehicles of the devotees are allowed only to park at Nilakkal.

After a dip in the the Pampa river which was clean due to rainfall and after completing the rituals, the eight kilometer walk to the Ayyappa sannidhanam began at around 10.45 am on Wednesday. Another round of verification happens at the entrance where the authorities go through the documents to check whether the verification process has happened at Nilakkal. If the documents matched, then devotees are allowed to climb the hill.

After having darshan of Ganapathi, Anjaneya and other deities, we started the trek.The Initial three kilometre climb is steep and after that the cement road ensures a safe journey. The mud road which was there 23 years back with slippery stones, has vanished. There are two pathways-one with stone steps and the other a cement track. We chose the cement track. I was excited to see the changes made in the last two decades.. There are RO water plants every 250 meters, e-toilets and the side of the pathway has been secured with railings as it is a forest and a possible animal attack cannot be ruled out. Regular movement of tractors keeps happening on the track to shift material to the temple. Ambulance services are in place and ambulance sirens could be heard while shifting some devotees with health issues to the base where a medical facility is available.A health center is also being set up where trained staff are seen helping anybody looking for medical assistance while climbing the 8 kilometer track. ATM and bank service are also there enroute. We started at 10.45 am on Wednesday and reached the temple entrance by 12.35 pm. We were allowed to go on the 18 steps as we had t