Sabrimala, the new Mecca of Hinduism

The news has rapidly spread all over India : the Lord Ayyappa will fulfill his pilgrims’ wishes. Within a few years this confidential Hinduist pilgrimage has turned into the largest one.

Every year, in January, several million pilgrims gather in Sabrimala. There are scores of stories of « miracles ». Says Jai Dev Rao : « My wife couldn’t bear a child so I made up my mind to go on this pilgrimage : thanks to the Lord Ayyappa I have got a son. » Bela Krishna says : « Being disabled, I was crawling on the ground for my first pilgrimage, Ayyappa healed me and I came back walking! » And yet, the pilgrimage, if it is undertaken according to rule, is far from easy. It requires 41 days of austerities: walking bare-foot, a vegeterian diet, sleeping on a mat on the ground, strict chastity…

The pilgrim will have to trek along a 57-km trail in the midst of the jungle, carrying a bag with a coconut on his head until he reaches the Lord Ayyappa’s temple on the hill of Sabrimala. There he will break a coconut on the golden steps of the sanctuary. Lord Ayyappa’s temple is open one month a year and the pilgrims rush particularly during the holy week at the end of which the Lord’s light is supposed to shine. Processions of richly adorned elephants, mystical dancing, Brahman rituals… the Lord Ayyappa pilgrimage is now the key-date of Hinduism.

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Photos and text ©Jean-Baptiste Rabouan / Lightmediation

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