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Sabarimala is an important pilgrim town located within a forest reserve, famous for the Sabarimala Sree Ayyappa Dharma Sastha Temple, that attracts more than 30 million pilgrims annually, making it the largest in India and second largest in the world, after Haji Pilgrimage of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
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Sabarimala temple, which got its name from “Shabri” (a devotee of Lord Rama), is one of the most important and popular Hindu shrine located in Kerala. The temple is dedicated to lord Ayappa, who is believed to be the combination of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu.
According to a folklore, it was Lord Parshurama who placed the diety of Ayappa at the foor of Shabri hills, and it is where the two Hindu cults, Shaivism and Vaishnavism meet. According to some stories, Lord Ayappa is also regarded as Lord Buddha.
Sabarimala is famous mostly for the annual festival that takes place there. Celebrated between November and January, this festival includes Mandal Puja and Makar Sankranti Puja as two of the most important rituals. The day of Makar Sankranti is the most auspicious day during the whole festival.
This shrine is open for the people of all castes and religion, during this festival. One of the most fascinating thing about Sabarimala temple is that pilgrims need to practise celibacy and a complete renunciation from all the worldly pleasures for forty days before visiting the shrine. All the pilgrims dress themselves in black to symbolize the equality of all before the God.
Recently, Sabarimala temple was the centre of controversy as the Supreme Court out ruled one of the many rules of the shrine. It was the denial of entry to the girls and women who are of menstruating age. This is because Lord Ayappa himself was a celibate. Even his birth doesn’t involve any physical intercourse and he was born from the combination of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu.
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