Devout begin annual trek to Keralas Sabarimala temple

Thousands of devotees have begun the 41-day long trek to the Lord Ayyappa Temple atop the Sabarimala hill in Kerala.

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 17 : Thousands of devotees have begun the 41-day long trek to the Lord Ayyappa Temple atop the Sabarimala hill in Kerala.

"Mandalam-Makarivilakku" festival begins from the first day of Malayalam month Vrischikom in mid-November (November 16) and will culminate in the third week of January.

Devotees begin "Vratham" or the penance, wearing a string of beads and observe abstinence from all worldly pleasures.

Abstinence from alcohol, smoking, non-vegetarian food and sexual relations is a part of the ritual that pilgrims are supposed to adhere to.

During the "Vratham" period normally all the "Ayyappas", those who undertake the penance, wear only black clothes and observe 41 days of penance to visit the temple. Women past their puberty are not allowed entry into the temple.

Incidentally, there is no bar on people from other faiths from visiting this temple.

"The forty-one day "Vratham" is important for all Ayyappa devotees, the food habits are also very strict and the religiously inclined can go and have darshans (blessings) of the god. Lord Ayyapa is a deity for people across religions," said Mani Potti, a priest.

"I believe in Lord Ayyapa and I come here to ward off evil," said Sathikumar, a devotee.

More than ten million devotees visit the hill shrine during the annual pilgrimage, which is billed as one of the biggest religious congregations after the Haj pilgrimage at Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

The temple situated atop the Sabarimala hill is at about 4,000 feet above sea level. One has to brave an arduous trek of more than six-kilometers to reach the temple at the top and pass through dense forests.

Pilgrims to Sabarimala throng from all over the country, most of them from Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

ANI