Sabarimala Yatra - December 2005

I started my Ayyappa Deeksha on 02.11.2005 alongwith another three swamies (Shiva, Ramprasad and Bhim Bahadur) who are my schoolmates. After observing the deeksha for a mandalam (40 days) we got ready to leave on 10th December for Sabarimala. On 09th December our Guruswamy (Shri Rajagopalan) who stays in Panvel, Mumbai arrived at Hyderabad. He is the only Guruswamy under whose guidance we have been performing this Sabarimala Yatra every year. We started visiting Sabarimala with him right from 1986. He was transferred to Mumbai in the year 1989. Though he has settled down in Mumbai after his retirement, most of the time we undertake the Sabarimla Yatra with him. Sometimes, we missed his company due to reasons beyond our control.

On 10th December after the Irumudi Pooja, we all (five people) left home to board the Sabari express which leaves at 1230 hrs from Sec'bad. Out train after reaching Bitragunta (one station before Nellore) was stopped for almost three hours due to some traffic problem between these two stations. However, by the time we reached Chengannur (Kerala) it was almost 2000hrs. The scheduled time of arrival at this station is 1500 hrs ie., we were behind schedule by five hours. We immediately boarded a waiting KSRTC bus proceeding to Pamba and reached Pamba by 1230 am on 12th Dec. 2005. The flow of the river Pamba was excellent and we enjoyed a great bath in the river for about an hour and started our trek to Sabarimala which is around six kilometers from Pamba. We started our trek at 0200 a.m. and reached Sannidhanam i.e., the golden temple of Ayyappa around 05030 am. During the trek we had to experience a slight shower for some time. We had our first Darshanam of the lord Ayyappa by 0600 A.M. After completing other rituals at Sabarimala we started trekking down and reached Pamba by 1400 hours. We again felt like having another bath in the river and spent around an hour.
Now our wait for a bus towards Guruvayoor, Chengannur, Kottayam started. The Kerala Government has been doing a great job in improving various amenities for the mammoth crowd visiting the holy shrine of Ayyappa. However, the Pamba bus stand remains untouched. The whole ground from where the buses towards all points of Kerala start is filled with stones and gravel and makes it impossible to walk forget running in the ground to catch your bus. The announcement is made only in Malayalam and only the localites are smart enough to get into the bus. Outsiders find it a Herculean task to get a seat. However, after a struggle for over two hours we got into a bus proceeding to Chengannur at about 1730 hours. By the time we reached Chenagnnur it was close to 2100 hours. We had our supper and checked for a room to spend the night. Since our group comprised of only male members and that too all of them adapt to the prevailing conditions, we took a room which is actually a shopping complex lying vacant and that has been converted into some rooms and a dormitory.

On 13.12.2005 morning, after having the darshan of Bhagavathy of Chenagannur, we visited Aranmula – Sri Krishna temple. The prathista (installation ceremony) of the idol is believed to have been done by Arjuna of the Pancha Pandavas. From Aranmula, we proceeded to Pandalam – the place where lord Ayyappa is believed to have spent his childhood. Even to this day, the Thiruvabharanam (the golden ornaments worn by Ayyappa) which were made by the Pandalam Raja are kept in safe custody at Pandalam. General public are also allowed to have a glimpse of the ornaments.

In the evening of 13th December we proceeded to Thirupulliyoor – Sri Krishna Temple. The prathista (installation ceremony) of the idol is believed to have been done by Bhima of the Pancha Pandavas. It was evening and temple believed to be very old was beautifully lit by the oil lamps.

From Thirupulliyoor, we headed to Thiruchittat – Sri Krishna Temple. The prathista (installation ceremony) of the idol is believed to have been done by Dharmaraja of the Pandavas. We were fortunate enough to have the Aarathi darshan of the lord and from there we proceeded straight to the Chengannur bus stand to take a bus to Kottayam from where we had to catch Malabar express to reach Cannanore (Kannur).
We boarded our train on 13.12.2005 at 2245 hours and reached Cannanore by 0700 hours of 14th December. After refreshing in the Railway retiring room, we left our luggage in the cloak room and proceeded to Trichambaram – Sri Krishna Temple. This is a very old temple (may be around 3000 years back) and located around 15 Kms. from Cannanore. The temple really needs renovation. The speciality of the temple is that there is no elephant for this temple. Everyday, unlike other temples, the doors of the sanctum sanctorum are opened alongwith Naivedyam (Prasadam). It is believed that Lord Krishna after killing the demon (Kuvalayam – which comes in the form of an elephant) is hungry. That is the reason, before performing any rituals, food is offered to the lord and other rituals are performed afterwards. There is also a small temple dedicated to Durga Devi which is surrounded by a small pond. The temple is located in the center of pond and one can see big fishes in the pond. The main festival takes place during March 4th to 14th of every year.

From Trichambaram – we proceeded to Taliparamba – where the presiding deity is Lord Raja Rajeswara. The prathista of the Idol was done by Lord Rama. The uniqueness of the temple is that women are not allowed inside the temple till late in the evening. After offering supper to the lord, women are allowed to enter the temple with Neyamrutham (a container with ghee). However, on two days in a year ie., on Sivarathri and on the New Year as per Malayam Calendar women are allowed to have Darshan of the lord right from morning.

From Taliparamba – we visited Kanjiraghat – Lord Vaidyanath (shiva). It is also a very old temple and worth visiting.

From Taliparamba we proceeded to Parissinikadavu – Sree Muthappan temple. The story is that Muthappan is found in a jungle by a Brahmin couple who are childless. They think that it is god’s gift and start bringing up the child. However, to their surprise the child goes in a wrong way and he starts making friendship with people of lower castes and moves with them which pains the foster parents very much. After a lot of persuasion, the parents dis-own him and he becomes a kind of god for the people of lower strata. He becomes a kind of robin-hood for the poor people and punishes those who try to trouble the poor people. There are different versions about this temple. However, this temple is located on the banks of a river and the temple provides free boarding / lodging to the visitors.

We left Parissinikadavu and reached Cannanore by evening 6.00 PM. Our Guruswamy left from Cannanore to Panvel (New Mumbai) by Netravathi Express on the same day (14.12.2005). We stayed back at Cannanore and took Parasuram Express leaving Cannanore at 0700 hrs in the morning and reached Shoranur by 1100 hrs. Our connecting train to Hyderabad – Sabari Express was at 1400 hrs. Since, we had more than two hours of time to spare, we went to a river near Shoranur and spent some time there. At 1500 hours we boarded our train on 15.12.2005 and reached Sec’bad by 1700 hrs i.e., four hours behind schedule.

However, the trip was very pleasant except for delay in running of the trains which is not in our hands. Also, I feel sorry for not attaching any photographs as there was some confusion in carrying a camera. Anyhow, I shall strive to improve my future postings regarding travel / pilgrimages in a more better way.


Rajaram
21st December, 2005.

Sabarimala Yatra - December 2005

I started my Ayyappa Deeksha on 02.11.2005 alongwith another three swamies (Shiva, Ramprasad and Bhim Bahadur) who are my schoolmates. After observing the deeksha for a mandalam (40 days) we got ready to leave on 10th December for Sabarimala. On 09th December our Guruswamy (Shri Rajagopalan) who stays in Panvel, Mumbai arrived at Hyderabad. He is the only Guruswamy under whose guidance we have been performing this Sabarimala Yatra every year. We started visiting Sabarimala with him right from 1986. He was transferred to Mumbai in the year 1989. Though he has settled down in Mumbai after his retirement, most of the time we undertake the Sabarimla Yatra with him. Sometimes, we missed his company due to reasons beyond our control.

On 10th December after the Irumudi Pooja, we all (five people) left home to board the Sabari express which leaves at 1230 hrs from Sec'bad. Out train after reaching Bitragunta (one station before Nellore) was stopped for almost three hours due to some traffic problem between these two stations. However, by the time we reached Chengannur (Kerala) it was almost 2000hrs. The scheduled time of arrival at this station is 1500 hrs ie., we were behind schedule by five hours. We immediately boarded a waiting KSRTC bus proceeding to Pamba and reached Pamba by 1230 am on 12th Dec. 2005. The flow of the river Pamba was excellent and we enjoyed a great bath in the river for about an hour and started our trek to Sabarimala which is around six kilometers from Pamba. We started our trek at 0200 a.m. and reached Sannidhanam i.e., the golden temple of Ayyappa around 05030 am. During the trek we had to experience a slight shower for some time. We had our first Darshanam of the lord Ayyappa by 0600 A.M. After completing other rituals at Sabarimala we started trekking down and reached Pamba by 1400 hours. We again felt like having another bath in the river and spent around an hour.
Now our wait for a bus towards Guruvayoor, Chengannur, Kottayam started. The Kerala Government has been doing a great job in improving various amenities for the mammoth crowd visiting the holy shrine of Ayyappa. However, the Pamba bus stand remains untouched. The whole ground from where the buses towards all points of Kerala start is filled with stones and gravel and makes it impossible to walk forget running in the ground to catch your bus. The announcement is made only in Malayalam and only the localites are smart enough to get into the bus. Outsiders find it a Herculean task to get a seat. However, after a struggle for over two hours we got into a bus proceeding to Chengannur at about 1730 hours. By the time we reached Chenagnnur it was close to 2100 hours. We had our supper and checked for a room to spend the night. Since our group comprised of only male members and that too all of them adapt to the prevailing conditions, we took a room which is actually a shopping complex lying vacant and that has been converted into some rooms and a dormitory.

On 13.12.2005 morning, after having the darshan of Bhagavathy of Chenagannur, we visited Aranmula – Sri Krishna temple. The prathista (installation ceremony) of the idol is believed to have been done by Arjuna of the Pancha Pandavas. From Aranmula, we proceeded to Pandalam – the place where lord Ayyappa is believed to have spent his childhood. Even to this day, the Thiruvabharanam (the golden ornaments worn by Ayyappa) which were made by the Pandalam Raja are kept in safe custody at Pandalam. General public are also allowed to have a glimpse of the ornaments.

In the evening of 13th December we proceeded to Thirupulliyoor – Sri Krishna Temple. The prathista (installation ceremony) of the idol is believed to have been done by Bhima of the Pancha Pandavas. It was evening and temple believed to be very old was beautifully lit by the oil lamps.

From Thirupulliyoor, we headed to Thiruchittat – Sri Krishna Temple. The prathista (installation ceremony) of the idol is believed to have been done by Dharmaraja of the Pandavas. We were fortunate enough to have the Aarathi darshan of the lord and from there we proceeded straight to the Chengannur bus stand to take a bus to Kottayam from where we had to catch Malabar express to reach Cannanore (Kannur).
We boarded our train on 13.12.2005 at 2245 hours and reached Cannanore by 0700 hours of 14th December. After refreshing in the Railway retiring room, we left our luggage in the cloak room and proceeded to Trichambaram – Sri Krishna Temple. This is a very old temple (may be around 3000 years back) and located around 15 Kms. from Cannanore. The temple really needs renovation. The speciality of the temple is that there is no elephant for this temple. Everyday, unlike other temples, the doors of the sanctum sanctorum are opened alongwith Naivedyam (Prasadam). It is believed that Lord Krishna after killing the demon (Kuvalayam – which comes in the form of an elephant) is hungry. That is the reason, before performing any rituals, food is offered to the lord and other rituals are performed afterwards. There is also a small temple dedicated to Durga Devi which is surrounded by a small pond. The temple is located in the center of pond and one can see big fishes in the pond. The main festival takes place during March 4th to 14th of every year.

From Trichambaram – we proceeded to Taliparamba – where the presiding deity is Lord Raja Rajeswara. The prathista of the Idol was done by Lord Rama. The uniqueness of the temple is that women are not allowed inside the temple till late in the evening. After offering supper to the lord, women are allowed to enter the temple with Neyamrutham (a container with ghee). However, on two days in a year ie., on Sivarathri and on the New Year as per Malayam Calendar women are allowed to have Darshan of the lord right from morning.

From Taliparamba – we visited Kanjiraghat – Lord Vaidyanath (shiva). It is also a very old temple and worth visiting.

From Taliparamba we proceeded to Parissinikadavu – Sree Muthappan temple. The story is that Muthappan is found in a jungle by a Brahmin couple who are childless. They think that it is god’s gift and start bringing up the child. However, to their surprise the child goes in a wrong way and he starts making friendship with people of lower castes and moves with them which pains the foster parents very much. After a lot of persuasion, the parents dis-own him and he becomes a kind of god for the people of lower strata. He becomes a kind of robin-hood for the poor people and punishes those who try to trouble the poor people. There are different versions about this temple. However, this temple is located on the banks of a river and the temple provides free boarding / lodging to the visitors.

We left Parissinikadavu and reached Cannanore by evening 6.00 PM. Our Guruswamy left from Cannanore to Panvel (New Mumbai) by Netravathi Express on the same day (14.12.2005). We stayed back at Cannanore and took Parasuram Express leaving Cannanore at 0700 hrs in the morning and reached Shoranur by 1100 hrs. Our connecting train to Hyderabad – Sabari Express was at 1400 hrs. Since, we had more than two hours of time to spare, we went to a river near Shoranur and spent some time there. At 1500 hours we boarded our train on 15.12.2005 and reached Sec’bad by 1700 hrs i.e., four hours behind schedule.

However, the trip was very pleasant except for delay in running of the trains which is not in our hands. Also, I feel sorry for not attaching any photographs as there was some confusion in carrying a camera. Anyhow, I shall strive to improve my future postings regarding travel / pilgrimages in a more better way.


Rajaram
21st December, 2005.