To Sabarimala
Ian Lockwood walks the path of an Ayyappa pilgrim:
Pilgrims going towards the temple carried the conspicuous irumudi offerings on their heads. Chants of “Swamiye Ayyappa” mixed in with the mournful call of a pair of crested serpent eagles (Spilornis cheela) circling above. The path entered the forest edge abruptly and I was happy to have the shade on this very bright day. Terminalia species and other large trees cast deep shadows over the broad pilgrim’s path. Bright coloured scarlet minivets (Pericrocotus flammeus) flittered in the high canopy, unmindful of the many humans moving like large ants on the path….Sounds like an amazing experience. But as women between the ages of ten and fifty aren’t permitted at the temple (oh well, I’ve written about this before), it’ll be a long time before I can think of doing the journey for myself. Meanwhile, for Lockwood, the journey is the destination.
Picture Frontline.
you can just undertake the trip..and skip the temple. maybe someone should organize groups of women who’d go through the journey every year, alongside the men, but ignore the temple altogether at the end. maybe they should build another shrine (that’d not permit entry to men between 10 and 50) at the site (perhaps, that’d dilute the protest). or, perhaps they could just have a picnic or..a mela near the temple..
Comment by kuffir — December 9, 2006 @ 5:49 pm
My father went to Sabrimalai recently, and I’ve always felt a tad jealous that I couldn’t go. Not because I’m especially religious, but because I believe that the exclusion of a vast majority of women is wrong.
Comment by Vi — December 20, 2006 @ 6:28 pm