The Bad:
I had written about this earlier in these pages. Despite my intention
not to repeat the same I am compelled to. Pilgrimages to holy shrines/sites in
India often call for an arduous trek across difficult terrain. The period of penance before the actual trek
is supposedly designed to train you to meet the ordeal. And any discomfort
beyond the said training is mitigated by the holy chants that you call out
during the trek. For example “Jai Mata Di” at Vaishnao Devi or a series of
chants viz, “Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa”
as in this case at Sabarimalai. Since I had undergone the prescribed penance
for 41 days I thought I was fairly ready to take in my stride anything the trek
threw at me. What transpired however was so difficult that thanks to the
handiwork of the Travancore Devaswom Board I just could not get my mind
together to chant the Lord’s name beyond a measly few times. Instead the entire
trek was made doubly difficult as I could not take my mind away from cursing
the Travancore Devaswom Board for reasons
best described here!
The Good:
For someone who has spent a substantial period of my life on the
banks of the majestic Ganga river in Kolkata and the subsequent experience of
seeing mere rivulets masquerading as rivers aka Noyyal in Coimbatore or
Thamaraparani in Tirunelveli, to witness with horror what were once rivers being reduced to the status of the world’s largest open sewage lines today viz., Coouam in Chennai,
it came as a very very pleasant; nay pleasing experience to take a dip in the Pampa
at the foothills of Sabari Hills as is the prescribed practise. The Holy Pampa
fed with sumptuous rains rushing and gushing frothily to wash away my sins as
is the belief. Whatever the belief, the swelling river with crystal clear water
was a sight for sore eyes!
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| Washing away my sins.....Pampa! |
The Best:
Recently I came across a discussion on the microblogging
site Twitter about the performance of Indians at the just concluded Wimbledon. A certain Tweep had commented that the three Indian winners at the various events
at SW19 Amit Nagal (Boys Doubles), Sania Mirza (Ladies Doubles) and Leander Paes
(Mixed Doubles) represented the reiteration of a secular India wherein the
three winners represented Hindu, Muslim and Christian faiths. The comment lead
to criticism from many, including yours truly, that why should one drag
religion into an event where it has absolutely no role to play. Since India’s
is a secular society why should one keep harping on the religion of the
people/personalities went the argument. The counter posed by many to this was
that while the primary DNA pattern of an Indian is Secular, it was however
necessary to keep celebrating this element in us as a guard lest complacency set
in and this unique but critical feature of the Idea of India be compromised. I
remembered the discussion as I stood before Saint Vavar’s Shrine at the Sannidhanam of the Sabarimalai Temple.
Vavar was a Muslim warrior from Arabia who went on to become, post his loss in
a battle with Lord Ayyappa, a leader in the Lord’s Army and his loyal devotee
says the legend. So deep was the love between the Lord and his Muslim devotee
that the legend further says that the Lord asked the King of Panthalam, his
earthly abode to build a temple for Vavar which duly came up at Erumely, the
starting point of the trek to Sabarimalai. A Muslim Shrine in one of the
holiest Hindu Temples! If this amazes you, you haven’t heard it all yet! Read
on............
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| A Shrine of a Muslim at one the Holiest Hindu Temples! |
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| Lullaby to the Lord, Only K J Yesudas! |
Among the various rituals that are practised in Hindu
temples are the waking up of the God/Goddess as the case may be (Suprabhatam), bathing (Abhishekam), feeding (Neivedhyam) and post the darshan
putting the god to sleep (Mangalam).
This practise of ritually putting the Lord to sleep at Sabarimalai is done by
singing the lullaby called the Harivarasanam.
As I stood with thousands of other devotees all around the Ponnambalam to watch the rituals, the air was filled with the
melodious and divine singing of the Harivarasanam on the public address system
by one of India’s greatest singers, K J Yesudas. As his name suggests, Yesudas,
Servant of Jesus, born as and till date a practising Christian! True to this spirit, Sabarimalai is a temple which is run on the principle of religion no bar!
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Glossary:
Sannidhanam : Sanctum Sanctorum
Ponnambalam : Golden Temple
As a genuine (!) secular person, I enjoyed reading your write up.
ReplyDeleteAs a Sabari malai visitor for over 9 years, you are experiences are
similar to mine. A good narrative .
Thank you so much for capturing and putting in the right context, the spirit of India. Allow me to be a bit parochial and say with pride that someone who has truly grown up in Kerala listening to the stories of Ayyapan and Vavar cannot be anything but cognitive and tolerant of other's faith.
ReplyDeleteIt is not when denying or refusing to recognize the existence of different faiths, but when respecting and being tolerant to those different faiths (and being at least as critical about one's own rituals as one is of others' rituals) that one becomes truly secular.
Well written, keep it up.