An enchanting place called Sabarimala-Part 5

A full day of rest and relaxation as a compliment to the tiresome and exasperatin journey v had the day bfore ... so on the 5th of jan .. v wer resting at a place assigned to our clan of 190 odd members .. quite a huge crowd to manage ..

But the beauty is not only with the fact that it was well managed ... but was done so in such a manner that no body and i mean NOBODY had any discomforts and inconveniences in the journey excepting the physical pain and tiredness .. But inspite of al that .. wit great determination and grits ... ppl wer ready to voluenteer for any kind of work ther .. be it running errands and chores or serving food during the Annadhanam or anything for that matter ... with al dis running ... u too wud wanna contribute somethin to wats goin on despite ur pains ..

It aint no easy task to take immensly large vessels and tht too many in number, al the way to an inaccessible and rough terrain .. make food for abt nearly 300 ppl .. serve it to all of them and bring them back again and most importantly .. fil their hearts with gratitude than their stomachs with delicious and a scumptuous feast befitting an occasion as grand as a wedding .. and al of this .. after a tiresome journey.. This is one important lesson that i ve observed .. Many a times in life .. u hav obstacles that are so hard and telling that it may take a greater deal of energy emotionally than physical damage... but still those who brush them aside and perform are the Real Winners .. as in this case .. those ppl who had contributed to the clan's greater good and well being and comfort are the real heros who ran the show ..
" HATS OFF TO NANGANALLUR MANIKANDA SABHA "

At abt 3.30 in the eve .. v strtd of to complete the last lap of the journey.. the final 6.5 kms of journey frm the shores of the sacred Pamba river to the Holy Sanctum Sanctorum of Lord Ayyappa.. being laid with cement and concrete the roads wer a lot more easier to walk on and even had railings on either side to facilitate the yaatras' journey .. al the niceties and sacrilege was observed .. and the only now the crowd had started gathering .. al of a sudden like a bolt outta the blue .. al i could c was ppl .. jamming and cramming the whole place like a tinned box of beans der wer ppl al over the place .. and the crowd was proceeding in snail's pace .. Owing to security and safety reasons ... the security personnell had adapted the toll gate method .. they wer sending ppl in batches for every 50 meters .. this really prolonged the journey and was getting on my nerves .. the worst part was that i had to stand in the same place unlike the other parts of the journey wer i could keep walking and hence ease of the pain .. here .. ter was no place even to sit .. so the agony had been increasing as time elapsed ....

As the hour progressed .. the hope that i could catch a glimpse of The Lord was dwindlin rapidly and my feet were really bothering me .. Time as i was feeling was a lil bit streched and the whole journey seemed a day long though it wer only a cpl of hours .. My comrades had reached and had Darshan n yet me and my fren Siddhu's dad wer alone left waiting ..( A spl thanks to Siddhu's dad for without him .. i wudnt hav possibly completed the yatra .. he was really patient and caring enuf to accompany me al along the journey and give me company .. though his walking pace was miles ahead of mine .. Thanks to him once again) .. The clock struck 11 and the gates had been closed .. A few hours later .. the crowd got to move ..

By midnight v had ascended te Golden Staircase of 18 steps ... Thus the journey had been completed .. but yet to c Him .. finally i reached the place of stay to hit the sack .. but i was in for a surprise .. i herd my frenz yelling in unison "Happy Birthday" .... Gosh .. its my birthday ... 21 yrs gone already !! .. catchin up with a few hours of sleep, i got up at 4 am and strtd of for an unfinished business ... managing to escape the crwd and fighting it at a few parts .. Finally i got to c Lord Ayyappa at his benevolent best ... smeared with ghee al over his gracious body, with a dimly lit backdrop he was sitting in the middle and smiling at the scores of bhakthas who arrive with the deafening cries of "Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa", with Benevolent Grace .. with a great rush of overwhelming joy and happiness, my eyes wer filled with tears and my heart was pounding with happiness and extacy which is inxplicable .. Such is the power of Swami Ayyappa

After visiting the other remaining deities .. v headed back to the place of stay .. and by the eve v strtd of to Kottayam and the next morn .. v wer back in Singarachennai ..

Within a small span of 45 days ... i cud myself c a gr8 change in me .. the way i tink .. the way i behave .. it was all new to me .. and i liked it .. and was beginning to wonder .."Gosh .. is this for real .. naan en vaazkaila ippdilaam irundhadhe illaye .. enna aachu enaku ??!! " .. and in those 45 days .. or the days wen u adorned the maalai ... u get an unusually great deal of respect frm ur peers that u normally cant even imagine ... funs apart .. if u really look into urself .. u get a great deal of self esteem and confidence too .. dis aint no plain flattery .. a great deal of truth as a consequence of self analysis ..

Earlier in my life .. i had an oppurtunity to come across a book called "Living with the Himalayan Masters .." by Swami Rama ... easily its the best book i ve come across in my life .. don thnk i m biased due to my extensive affection towards philosophy .. but the book itself is sheer enthralment .. Al thanx to ma dad .. it throwed light on the Swami's encounters with various rishis who are still living and are pursueing sptiritual enlightenment in such a mechanical and commercialized world .. and the austerity that they exhibit in hat book is simply mind boggling .. Their lifestyle is filled with simplicity in every aspect .. be it food .. clothes .. wat ever .. they are so simple .. .. and the amt of unparalled concentration that they exhibit is outstandin .. to realize it for urself .. try readin it wen u get a chance ...

Now u may wonder i m gettin out of track and am blabbering some stupid story without point .. well .. i m gettin towards it .. The concept of observing a "Vritham" for 45 days is not without any point and purpose .. its next to impossible to observe the kind of sacrilege and austerity with great dedication and sincerity that i had highlighted earlier ... but the least tht v could do is for a span or a "mandalam" which comes to 48 days .. technically and scientifically .. and practice or habit that u rigidly follow for such a period of time .. bcomes a habit .. and hence .. buy following such an intensely spiritual way of life for 40 odd days with dedication .. u r bound to live in the same likes for a longer period of time .. there may b a lot of exceptions and deviations .. but lets not talk abt them .. this was teh ultimate aim and motive behind such a strong n yet simple concept .. now am i making any sense ??!!


Thus i complete my experiences and encounters that i had experienced in
"An Enchanting place called Sabarimala" .. with 3 words ..

"SWAMIYE SHARANAM AYYAPPA"