SWAMIYE SARANAM AYYAPPA

Index of Articles
S.No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Article Title
Editorial
Our Sabhas 27th year pooja programme
Periya Paadhai and its Significance
Answers from Aravind Subramanyam on Sastha Cult
Swachh Bharat Campaign in Sabarimala
My experience with Life
Truthfully, the Truth
Will God come to earth again?
?

?

Editorial Team of Tatvamasi

S. No
1
2
3
4
5

Tatvamasi November 2014

Name of the Editor

Shri O S Subramanian
Shri R Easwaran
Shri Sri Kanthan
Shri P S Kothandaraman
Shri V Subramanian

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1 Editorial
We are delighted to be back with you with the release of our 29 th issue of Tatvamasi. What
an auscipicous moment to release it! In two days from now, the devotees would be going in
large numbers to Ayyappan Temples to wear maalai. We will hear Ayyappan songs
anywhere and everywhere for the next 60 days. The vibration that we will feel all over cant
just be described in words. Looking back, it just looks like we finished a yatra just a while
ago, but it is good 11 months since we came back after our 2014 yatra. It is another year,
another yatra, another herculean task of performing the pooja and the grand scale
Annadhanam at Periyananavattam everything happens with the divine blessings and
grace of Lord Sri Dharma Sastha.
Our entire team has already started working on various activities right from planning the
27th year pooja celebrations, Sabarimala pilgrimage, poojas at the houses of our members
and ofcourse, the mega scale Annadhanam that our Sabha conducts with the support of
Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangham in Periyanavattam every year. It is really exciting to
be part of such activities and it is a blessing to be carrying out these in the name of Lord.
Our Sabhas 27th year pooja celebrations are spread over three days this year, as in last year,
starting on Friday, the 26th December 2014 and ending on Sunday, the 28th December 2014,
at Mithila Hall, Raja Rajeswari Cultural Academy, Thillai Ganga Nagar, Chennai 600 061.
Please have a look at the next section for the invitation copy. As in previous years, we invite
all the readers of Tatvamasi and their family members to be part of this pooja programme
during all the three days and be blessed.
Following this, our team will leave for Sabarimala yatra on 4th January, 2015 and return on
10th January, 2015, with 6th January and 7th January earmarked for all-day Annadhanam in
Periyanavattam. We request the readers to contribute liberally for the annual pooja and
Annadhanam.
Current issue of Tatvamasi:
In this issue, we have given a consolidated set of answers given by Shri Aravind
Subramanyam to all the questions that we had sent to him. We had published the answers
in three parts so far and he has answered the fourth and final part through this issue. We
felt that it would be a good idea to give the answers for all the four parts in this issue as
many of you would be undertaking the Sabarimala pilgrimage in the coming months and it
would be a wonderful opportunity to know about Sastha Cult in detail before undertaking
the yatra. Please take your time to read and absorb it. Along with it, we have also included
the translated article on the Signifance of Periya Paadhai, which was originally written in
Tamil by Shri Aravind in our Silver Jubilee issue. For those who cannot read Tamil, this will
be an icing on the cake!
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Besides these, there are other useful articles such as maintaining cleanliness in Sabarimala,
which is on how we can extend Swachh Bharat Campaign there. Please take a few minutes
to read this article, follow it sincerely and maintain the serenity of Sabarimala.
Apart from these articles, there are three other articles that you will love reading My
Experience with Life, Truthfully the Truth and Will God come to earth again? All these three
articles convey the significance of worship and what God means. It is a coincidence that as
we are about to start our viradham for Sabari yatra, these three articles are sure to open
our eyes on what worship of God is all about.
There are also a few other interesting articles such as birth of Arthamulla Hindu Madham,
significance of Sadabhishekam etc. We request the readers to spend the weekend, reading
all the articles and get ready to welcome Ayyappan on Monday at your houses! We wish you
a very safe and pleasant journey.
On behalf of Tatvamasi Editorial Board, we once again extend a very warm welcome to our
Annual Pooja Celebrations.
We thank all the readers for the excellent support given so far and we look forward to
getting even higher level of support in the months to come.
Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa

Editorial Board
Back to Index Page

Tatvamasi November 2014

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2 Our Sabhas 27th year pooja programme

Tatvamasi November 2014

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Back to Index Page

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3 Periya Paadhai and its Significance

There are three routes to reach Sabarimala viz. Erumeli route, Vandi Periyaar route and
Chalakayam route.
Most of the Ayyappa devotees take the route of Periya paadhai (the route via Erumeli) as
this is the same route that Manikantan undertook for His vanayatra. Therefore, it is
considered that when one undertakes pilgrimage through this route, the yatra is complete
in all respects, as per the words of senior Guruswamys of yester years. To go further, they
also say that only when the pilgrimage is undertaken through the Periyapathai to
Sabarimala and climb 18 steps with Irumudi, it is considered as a yatra to Sabarimala!
As God Himself (Manikantan) in his avatar on the Earth, with all his Parivarams, took yatra in
this route and stayed in several places en route, each place has a special significance
attached to it. In the olden days, the devotees used to halt at few points with their irumudi
bags, perform poojas to the Devathas and then proceed further.
Each of the small hills is called a fort in this route. Each fort is under the regime and
protection of a Devatha. This is the reason, once people reach a place, perform a small
pooja, take the blessings and approval of the Devatha there and then proceed with yatra. It
is a belief that if one goes without following this properly, they could invite the anger of the
Devathas and that was the reason why in those days the Guruswamys would never allow
the yatra in the night time (even today it is applicable).
There are several auspicious places in this route. These places have special power to
enhance our devotion and dedication to God. They are:
1. Erumeli
2. Perurthodu
3. Kaalai Katti
4. Azhuthai
5. Azhuthai River
6. Kallidunkundru
7. Injiparai Udumparai
8. Mukkuzhi
9. Karivalaamthodu
10. Karimalai
11. Valiyaanai Vattam (Periyanai Vattam)
12. Cheriyaanai Vattam
13. Pampa River

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Erumeli
Erumeli is the place where all the devotees converge before starting the vana yatra. This is
the place where Mahishi was conquered. It used to be referred as Mahishi Maarika
Vanam in the Purana. Later on it became Erumai Kolli and then Erumeli. Once you
reach Erumeli, first, you should pray Pettai Sastha. Remembering Ayyappans entry into the
forest for war, the devotees perform Pettai Thullai.

You will see Sastha Pradhishta in Kiratha Roopam in the western side of Erumeli. The
devotees should pray Kiratha Sastha here, take His permission and blessings and then
commence the yatra through the forest.
Before that, you should touch the feet of your Guruswamy, give Guru Dakshinai and pray
that he should take you safely through the forest.
In the olden days, there was no practice to visit the mosque and offer prayers there. Also,
what existed earlier as Vapura Koshtam is not to be seen anymore. Therefore, at the steps
of the fort, pray Shri Maha Ganapathi and Vapuran (Vapuran - who is in the form of
Sivabootham) at the Pettai Sastha Temple itself and then start the yatra.
Perur Thodu:
Thodu means water body. The first halting point in Periyapathai is Perur Thodu. Ayyappans
poongavanam commences from here only. Those who did not observe proper vratham
should not step in here.

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In the olden days, devotees can proceed beyond this point only if Velichapadu permits
them. Till the period of Kottarakarai Harihara Iyer, one can proceed only if the Velichapadu
gives viboodhi prasadham here. If he takes your irumudi from the devotee, it means one has
to only go back home. Such devotees had no other option but to return home, taking the
blessings of those who are allowed to proceed further in yatra.
As the devotees follow strict viradham and come here, the vanadevathas, boothas and
animals do not harm them and they are bound by the strict vratham of the devotees.
Kaalaikatti:
This place is called Kaalaikatti Ashram. People say that this is where Lord Shiva tied His
Nandi, which is not true (Nandi is a Sivaganam; does one need to tie Him? Is He our
household bull to be tied)? The truth is, the primary devatha in this place is Nandikeswaran.
He is also one of Sasthas Ganam. Therefore, we should pray Nandi here, take His
permission and then continue the yatra.

Azhuthai / Azhuthai River

Azhuthai Rivers actual name Alasa. As days passed by, people started calling it as Azhuthai.
This is a branch of River Pamba. One should take a holy dip in this river, take a small stone
and climb the Azhuthai Hill, preserving the stone safely. Here also, after the bath and before
proceeding further with yatra, one should perform Namaskaram at the feet of Guruswamy,
give Guru Dakshinai and then continue.

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Kallidunkundru:
This is the peak point of Azhuthai Hill. This is where we drop the stone that we picked up
from Azhuthai River. In our day to day struggle between good and bad things, this act of
dropping the stone, symbolizes our action againt adharma; ie eradicating bad things from
our mind. In the olden days, people belonging to Athreya Gothram used to perform special
poojas here for Leelavathy. It does not happen anymore, though.

Injiparai Udumparai
After crossing the Azhuthai top, if you proceed towards north, you will reach
Udumparaikottai. People used to stay here overnight. Here, one will feel the Sannidhyam of
Shree Boothanathar. He lives here in the name of Vyakrapathan. In the nights, it is said that
one can hear the sound of Boothathans chain (sangili).
People perform Aazhi Pooja in this place. The ash from the aazhi is distributed as prasadham
to the devotees. In those days, Aazhi was created with wooden sticks and coconuts. This is
different from the usual Karpura Aazhi that we have seen. This aazhi pooja was continued
till the period of Parvathipuram Venkateswara Iyers days. Then during the period of
Boothapandi Shri Ramanatha Vadhyar, it continued in Valiyanai Vattam (Periyanai Vattam).
Lot of changes has happened in the Periyapathai route and hence, we are unable to see the
primary rock which had the sannidhyam of Shri Boothanathar which actually existed
before. One should pray Boothanathar here and perform Panaham (Jaggery water) as
Neivedhyam. Close to this place, is Injiparaikottai. Here, there is a temple for Devi (Twaritha
Devi).
Mukkuzhi:
Once you descend in Azhuthai Hill, you will reach Mukkuzhi. Some people skip trekking up
Azhuthai Hill and reach Mukkuzhi via Arayakudi. This route is not considered traditional as
you cannot see Kallidunkundru and Udumparai and therefore, one should go through the
traditional route by climbing Azhuthai Hill.
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Here, Badrakali is worshipped. Archanai is performed with Kunkumam and the devotees
also give kuruthi as offering. Now, they have constructed a temple for Kali here.
From here, as you walk almost on the plains (not much of ups and downs), you will reach
Karivalamthodu.
Karivalamthodu:
Kari means elephant. Elephants come here to drink water and hence this place is called
Karivalamthodu (you will cross a small water body in Puduchery to reach this place).
Here, you can take some rest but it is not advisable to stay. The rest is very much essential
as you will be getting ready to climb Karimalai, the most challenging stretch of Periyapathai
yatra.
In the olden days, Guruswamys would never allow people to stay here, but these days, we
see lot of people staying here, which is not safe.

Karimalai:
Karimalai is considered to be elephants sanctuary. Before climbing up Karimalai, you should
pray Ganapathi and proceed. Here, Vanamahaa Kali is also significant. Some people used to
perform Sahasranamam for Kali in a specific stone and perform pooja.
There are seven stages in Karimala, which is steep and straight. It is believed that this
stretch will test ones viratham and brahmacharyam. This place will also bring out the inner
sense of each individual. As it is also considered as Sathya Peetam, one should avoid
unnecessary talk or arguments here. Whatever the senior Guruswamys say here in terms of
blessings / good things, is considered to be real and will happen. Therefore, it is very
important to seek blessings of Guruswamys here before continuing the yatra.

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At the hill top of Karimalai, pray Karimalai Nathan, drink water from the well there, take
some rest and then proceed with descending the hill.
The stage of Karimalai trekking and climbing down will test ones strength, physically and
mentally. It also has the power of making the devotees chant Saranagosham here (even
though they may not have chanted Saranam till then). It is believed by the devotees and
Guruswamys of yester years that one who sincerely follows viratham and passes through
Karimalai is sure to get blessed by Sastha in some form or other and is sure to get rid of
difficulties in life.
Valiyaanai Vattam, Cheriyaanai Vattam, Pampa River
The area that we see and refer as Pamba today (the area in and around Pamba Ganapathy
Temple) is not the actual Pamba. Though this is part of Pamba River, this area has been
developed in the recent past as more people started to come and more vehicle movement
started. The river side that is surrounded by Valiyaanai Vattam is the actual area of Pamba.
From Karimalai top till Pamba River, it is believed that this area belongs to Karuppan.
Several devotees have felt it during their journey in realality. Because of this, people used to
perform pooja in Valiyanai Vattam by way of Avahanam in Coconut for Karuppa Swamy. The
actual area where Karimalai down path ends is Valiyanai Vattam. The pampa river that flows
here is considered equal to Ganga.
It is 100% true that you cannot come across such a sacred place anywhere else, as it is
where Bhagawan walked and His footsteps have touched this area. Sanakathi Rishis have
come here, performing penance, waiting for Sastha to come. It is believed that, even today,
there are several rishis live in penance here, though not visible to us. This is the reason, why
even today, several senior Guruswamys stay here and perform poojas, homams,
annadhanam, Pampa sathi, Pampa vilakku etc.

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The aazhi pooja performed by Boothapandiyar, the small island viri of Punalur Subramanya
Iyer attained Sidhi and the tree under which Neelakanda Iyer used to sit and the Sastha
Preethi performed here, are talked about by the devotees even today.
It is true and believed that when Annadhanam is performed here, Ayyappan comes in some
form and accepts the food served. This is why Annadhanam performed here carries lot of
significance.
Whoever comes to eat, one should treat him as Ayyappan Himself and give food. Earlier, it
used to be a practice to visit 108 sheds, collect the ashes from the cooking area and bring it
as Prasadham.
After performing poojas / annadhanam and before leaving for Sannidhanam, one should
take the blessings of Guruswamy again, give Guru Dakshinai and then continue the yatra,
after praying Pamba Ganapathi.
After this, one should pray Devi and Ayyappan at Sabari Peetam, seek a pardon if there was
any mistake in vratham, then pray in Sarankuthi and then reach Ponnu Padhinettam Padi.
Offer sincere prayers to Karuppan and Kaduthan, get permission to climb the steps, break a
coconut and then climb the holy 18 steps.
After the trekking, once you see God, whatever pain that one had during climbing up would
just vanish. Please pray sincerely, make an absolute surrender to Him, perform Ghee
Abhishekham, give Guru Dakshinai to Guruswamy again and get Prasadham from his hands.
Then, while leaving back, keep the prasadham in the Irumudi bag, keep it on the head /
shoulder and descend.
One of the most important things to follow is never remove maalai on the way, just
because you have finished darshan. It should be removed only after reaching home, after a
bath and keeping the prasadham in front of God and performing Deeparathanai to God and
then get it removed by your Guruswamy who put it for you. Then, distribute the
prasadhams to your friends and relatives and complete the yatra.

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Those who follow the above procedures sincerely are sure to get blessed by Lord Ayyappan!
Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa

V Aravind Subramanyam
Translated in English by R Easwaran

Editors Note:
This article was written in Tamil by Shri Aravind Subramanyam for our Silver Jubilee. As this
is the beginning of a new Sabarimala season, we felt that it would be good to translate it in
English and publish it again, for the benefit of those who cannot read Tamil.

Back to Index Page

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4 Answers from Aravind Subramanyam on Sastha

Cult (all the 4 parts included)
Ayyapan is called 5 malai vasan, but why is He sitting in Sabarimalai? i.e. why is the
temple on Sabarimalai?
Bagawan is called Panchadreeswaran, Aindhu Malai Azhagan etc.
First of all what is 5 Malai? There are two versions for this statement. Some equate this to
Sorimuthu Ayyanar, Achankovil, Aryankavu, Kulathupuzhai and Sabarimalai. The other
version talks about Azhuthamalai, (few include Udumparai Malai), Thalappara Malai,
Karimalai, Neelimalai and Sabarimalai (few include Ponnambalamedu).
The original name of Sabarimalai is Garudadri. Bagawans presence is always there in all
these places. But since Sabarimalai is the Mahayogapeetam, Parasurama prayed the Lord to
be here in His full manifestation. When Parasurama created Keralam, Bagawan ordered him
to install a vigraham at Mahayogapeetam and promised to be in this temple, which will
become His headquarters in future.
Mama Pradhana Kshetram Bhavishyati
(Kerala Kalpam)
Why is He a bramachari? What is His promise to Manja matha? If He is a Brahmachari why
is there a temple for Manja matha in Sabarimala?
By the word Bramachari if you mean Bachelor, in my personal view, there is no such thing
called Brahmacharyam, Grahastham or Vanaprastham to the divine manifestations. One
who is in union with Brahman is a brahmachari. All these Varnas and Ashramas are for
mortal humans and the Lord is above all these. Bagawans form is thathwa swaroopam and
has to be understood in that way. Even Krishna ashtotram calls Him Anadi Brahmachari.
In Tamil Nadu we call Ganapathy as a Brahmachari but in North India He is worshipped with
two wives Siddhi and Bhuddhi. They call Karthikeya as a Bachelor while we depict Him
with Valli and Devasena. Similar is the case of Sastha with Poorna and Pushkala.
The divine principle of Shakti is depicted as wives to devatas. If the Iccha and Kriya Shakti
are physically seen, we depict them as two wives on either side. If the Shakti is not seen
physically it means it is in subtle form within the Lord. (Remember even Palani Murugan is
installed without Devi).
Regarding Manjambika, I have nowhere seen any Puranic pramana (proof) regarding any
promise made by Manikandan that He will marry Her when no Kanni Ayyappan comes in a
year.
Kambankudi Meenakshi Sundaram Mama once raised a valid question. Mahishi was
originally Leelavathy (a manifestation of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathy). If that is the case
she occupies the Mothers position for Ayyappan. And by giving Shapa vimochanam to Her,

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Ayyappan gave Her a new life which means Ayyappan occupies the Fathers position to
her.
In either way, marrying her is not possible. Manjambika is one among the Parivaras of
Sastha who is installed near the Manimantapam. Thus, She stands as a manifestation of
Shakti to bless all the devotees.
There ends the matter.
What is the significance of rolling the coconut in Manjamatha temple?
I really wonder if anybody knows the answer for this question. No senior Guruswamys
approve these kinds of rituals. And they never practiced or suggested this kind of worship.

Moreover there is no Sasthra backing or Sampradaya practice for this ritual. Few things
evolve as a deshachara - rule of the land and others blindly follow it without questioning it.
We have read too many things on the significance of 18 steps. What is actually the true
meaning of 18 steps? What does each step represent?
18 Steps.... are equated to

18 Puranas
18 Mountains
18 Ayudhams
18 Siddhas
18 Devatas
18 Gunas

There are various explanations suiting each of the above statement.

You can also find ample of proof justifying each stand.
"Padi Pathinettum Puranangal Aakkiya Premaswaroopandae Ananda Mandapam..." says an
old sarana vili.
There are 18 mountains surrounding Sabarimalai and each one is represented through one
step of the padhinettu padi...

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Ayyappan has 18 Ayudhams... He left each one of the ayudhams while ascending the
peetam and hence each step has or represents an ayudham of Ayyappan. Weapons that kill
(the enemies) and at the same time protect (the devotees).
All our Shastras greatly exclaim about the 18 siddha purushas... These siddha purushas have
surrendered to Lord Sastha who is the Yogeeshwara and obtained the status or privilege of
being his Ashtadasha Peetam (18 Steps).

18 Special Devatas are installed in the 18 steps. During the customary Padi Pooja - these
deities are worshipped.
Confused ...?
All these are implications.... Everything is true as far as this is concerned... you cant deny
the above statement ... "It is there - because it is there" - is the best answer
As per the divine will of Lord Ayyappa all these things happen...
Now just go in the reverse order...
There are eighteen devatas who are the adhishtana moorthis of 18 mountain ranges (or
Parivara devats) who are installed in the 18 steps... and Sastha was seated above all (here
the steps are not built but it is done as a pratishta... that is the most important thing and
uniqueness of Sabarimalai... )
When Ayyappa avatara took place he renounced his prince hood and left his ayudhams one
by one on each of the step of Pathinettampadi... and merged with Sastha
Further 18 siddha purushas who wanted to serve the Lord, installed their divine presence in
the 18 steps to serve him as well as bless the devotees..
Just imagine, the Swami is same everywhere.. at Achankovil, Aryankavu or Kulathupuzhai,
Coimbatore or Bangalore... But the 18 steps are unique here... You can see the Lord even
without the vratham. But you cannot step in the Padinettampadi without Vratham... That is
the speciality of those 18 steps in Sabarimala.
Because, by climbing the steps, you are actually stepping into the zone of a particular devata
who guards it ... and only if you have the Vratha Balam - you qualify - "you pass the exam" you are blessed.
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Now you can see - Every statement given above is true...

And that is not the end...
Every divine aspect has a direct side and an esoteric meaning ... For Example Rama's war
with Ravana to unite with Seetha - is not a mere story but the aikyam (merger) of Jeevathma
and Paramatma.
Similarly the 18 steps has an esoteric meaning that is one who conquers the 18 Gunas
becomes Bhagawan ... that is TATVAMASI.
Each year you follow the Vratham to 100% sincerity, you climb one step or rise one level in
your spiritual progress ... the inner refinement happens .. (that is the actual purpose of
Sabarimalai yatra.. if this is not happening.. there is no use even if you go 1008 times).
Similarly when you overcome the 18 gunas... you become pure and attain the state of
oneness with the Lord - the state is called TATVAMASI.
TATVAMASI is the Maha Vakyam from the Vedas meaning - "You know that you and that are
One"..
Unfortunately, we have neither understood the direct meaning nor the esoteric meaning of
it.
Let that ever compassionate Lord bless us with the Gnana and Bhakti and the inner drive to
understand His significance.
We have found coconut breaking only for Lord Ganesha, that too only in front of His
temple. Why we are breaking Coconut in Sabarimala? I remember breaking near 18 steps
while climbing them and again after dharshan, and while starting and ending the yatra.
What is the significance of this?
Breaking the coconut is a special form of worship to Ganesha. But it is not exclusive only to
Ganesha.
During our Sabarimala yatra, we break a coconut just after the Kettunirai, when we start our
pilgrimage to Sannidhanam. This is done in order to please the Parivaras (especially
Karuppan) who takes the duty of guardian for us immediately. He safeguards the pilgrim
and also his house hold.
Similarly at certain spots the Parivara devatas manifest in a Sookshma form which cannot
be seen with the naked eyes. So when we cannot do physical pooja, we break a coconut as
an offering.

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The same thing is done at Padhittempadi - to plead and please the devatas before climbing
the 18 steps, a thanksgiving after the darshan and finally at our home for another
thanksgiving to the guardian deities and relive them from the guarding duty. Only after this
our Vratham comes to an end.
What is the actual reason for Karpura Aazhi?
The neo-socialist group of devotees always have a valid reason for each and every ritual we
do during Sabarimalai Yatra. But the traditional school of thoughts give totally a different
picture.
Fire has a peculiar property among the five natural elements. It has Form and is also
Formless. That is the reason for installing Bagawan and worshipping Him in the form of fire
is in practice from time immemorial.
Especially in Ayyappan Cult, Bagawan is seen as Jyoti swaroopan the very form of fire.
Thus worshipping Him with proper Agni was considered as a yagnam the same concept
when it manifested in another form it became Karpoora Aazhi

Bagawans Thirumukham is Agni. So worshipping Agni, doing pradakshinam etc is

worshipping Bagawan Sastha himself.
The Aazhi is made either with wodden logs or with Karpuram. Special poojas and balis are to
be done before starting the Aazhi puja.

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The original Aazhi was conducted with full pomp and splendor by Veteran Guruswamy
Parvatheepuram Shri. Venkateshwara Iyer at holy spots like Udumpara Kotta. Later this was
continued by Bhoothapandi Shri Ramanatha Vadhyar. All other aazhi pujas we see today
everywhere (with many variations) originated from this.
Why are we taking a baby coconut tree during 18th malai alone?
Every year of Sabarimala yathra gives an inner refinement to the devotee and elevates him
in the spiritual life. Therefore, during each years yathra he wins over an attribute (say a bad
quality) and the elevation happens gradually. In due course of time he becomes pure and
attains a state of supreme that is equal to that of the Lord. His old janma comes to an end
and he becomes a new person.

Coconut is always considered to be equal to human being. We call it Thennam Pillai. For
this reason we plant a coconut tree there to indicate a new janma, a refined janma.
Why are we taking a bell during our 3rd trip? Why is a yatriga called Manikandan during
that trip?
As I already said, all these are called desacharam which arose due to various reasons. In
certain temples, when people come to the temple, they promise to come and tie a bell if
their prayers are answered. It is a matter of belief. This belief is very popular with
Sabarimala due to various reasons.
The 3rd trip is always considered sacred because only during the third time one gets
strongly grounded. Only with the divine call one can complete his third trip. This can be
compared to that of having Chandra darshanam.

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The moon grows after the new moon day. One is not able to see the 2nd kalai of the moon
as it is so thin, but can view only the 3rd. There is a great tatwartha on seeing the 3rd day
waxing crescent moon. It is visible in the western sky after sunset for a brief period only.
Also the sky should be clear without clouds. Chandra is the Lord of the mind. Like waxing
and waning of moon, mind also has oscillations with ups and downs. Seeing Chandra on
Chandra Darshan is similar to seeing the Lord as Jyothi in the Ponnambala medu.
Only chosen people have it for the third time.
Calling by names like Manikandan, Kochu etc., all depends on the group. There is no
hard and fast rule regarding calling by any name. At Sabarimala, I once heard two kids
quarrelling among themselves Naandhan Pazham; Nee Kani I was really surprised. When I
asked them what do they actually mean, their father explained to me that in their place, a
yatriga during his 3rd trip is called Pazham and 5th trip is called Kani!
We hear about viradham for 42 days, 48 days, 60 days etc. What is the exact number of
days that one should observe viradham?
In our earlier days, when sannidhanam was opened only for Sankranti - Mandla Vratham
and Makara Darsham was the norm. This again was possible because people used to walk
for 10-15 days to reach Erumeli. And then, the periyapathai travel was minimum 5 days.
Considering todays situation, 41 days of complete vratham for Kettunera and the
undertaking the yathra is the norm.
Why are the ladies not allowed to go to Sabarimala? Even Lord Ganesh is a brahmachari;
why is Ayyappan restricting ladies?
I have already answered this brahmachari aspect. Ayyappan never restricts the ladies to
come to Sabarimala. He is our creator He doesnt have gender biased behaviour or
something like that. The basic qualification for Sabari yathra is 41 days of Vratham which is
impossible for the Ladies until they reach certain age.
Moreover our Sasthras are having lot of Karunyam towards us especially towards the
Ladies. Dharma-sastras of the Vedas define the position of woman on the basis of bodily
identity (weaker body, emotions, intellect etc.) and therefore order her protection. Modern
critics could not understand this and present us a distorted theory.

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The karunyam of Sastras are completely misunderstood and ignored in modern society.
Women are not lower than men - both are bound by shastric prescriptions. Man serves his
guru with the same care as woman serves her husband. Man must also serve woman in
many ways. Men are not "higher" according to the Vedas; they only serve in a different way.
Since women already have a lot of household duty to look after, they are not burdened with
any special yathras and rituals. When the husband does any good karma, 50% of the punya
goes to the wife. On the other hand if he does anything bad, 100% of the papa remains with
him.
One might expect, the wife to be treated similarly. But it is not so. Through any good karma,
if any, punya arises hundred percent of that remains with her. If by chance she does
anything wrong. 50% of the papa goes to the husband. Isn't that strange?
We all very well know how most of us trouble our mother, sister and wife during our Vratha
kalam. Therefore, even without undertaking the hard and strenuous mountain trekking
yathra, 50% of the punyam goes to them for the service they do, sitting at home.
Thus, nowhere it is said Ladies should not come to Sabarimala. The ever merciful
Ayyappan is always ready to serve the mothers. And so the real meaning is Ladies need not
come to Sabarimala.
What is the actual route for Thiruvabharanam box? What is the viradham rule to carry it?
Is it stricter than normal Ayyapan viradham? Who are allowed to carry it?
Tiruvabaranam route starts from Pandalam Palace and passes through forests, hills, and
rivers and finally reaches Sabarimala, covering a distance of 83 km.
On January 12th afternoon, after the pooja and witnessing the Krishnaparunthu, procession
goes via via Kaipuzha Kidangannur, and Aranmula and finally reaches Ayroor Puthiyakavu
Devi temple. On 13th January it travels through the Peroorchal, Vadaserikkara, Madamon,
Perunadu, Puthukkada and by the evening it reaches Laha estate.
A team of representatives (almost 40 in numbers belonging to the traditional families who
were serving the Royal Family of Pandalam in yester years) carry the holy boxes on their
heads. At present they follow normal vratham to carry the boxes. These members take turn
in duties (with mutual understanding) from point to point as to who will carry the
Tiruvabarana Petti, Velli Petti and Kodi Petti.
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The procession is accompanied by hundreds of devotees, armed guards and policemen. It is

a wonderful sight to see the warm welcome given to the Tiruvabarana Gosha Yathra
throughout the route by devotees and sangams irrespective of caste or religion.
On the Makara Vilakku day it crosses Nilackal, Attathode, and via Oliyampuzha it comes to
Valiayanavattam. From there it goes via the traditional Neelimala route and then reaches
Appachimedu, and Sabaripeetam and Sannidhanam.
I was told by my elders that in earlier years, Bagawan used to give utharavu to any 3
members of the families which carry the boxes) and those 3 will observe vratham from this
makara vilakku to next makara vilakku to get him qualified to carry the box. In those days
the Tiruvabaranam used to start from Pandalam palace on 14 th Morning and the persons
carrying it used to be in trance and reach Sannidhanam within a span of 12-13 hours.
After the fire accident at Sabarimala, most of the earlier routines got distorted and the
present setup came into practice.
The liquid ghee becomes solid when one reaches malai. I heard that it denotes how strong
our viradham is; i.e., if the ghee becomes solid, then our viradham is considered good. Is
this true?
The same ghee, with the same set of coconuts scientifically should be of the same state
after 4-5 days. But practically it is not. In olden days this was used as a measuring scale to
see how your viradham is. It is a customary practice among the senior Guruswamys and
whether you believe this or not 100% depends on your mental setup.
Please take utmost care with viradham of each and every member of the group. In those
days we used to be tensed, nervous and with full prayers when our Nei Thengai is opened
at Sannidhanam - to make sure that it is solid.

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What I have learnt from seniors is - One basic truth; One single irumudi (with accomplished
viradham) is enough to uplift the entire group towards the Lord. And it is vice versa also.
Therefore, we pray to Him sincerely and mix all the ghee coconuts and only after that we
break open the coconut.
Why did Ayyapan choose the number 18 for the number of steps? Is there any
significance for that particular number?
I have already explained the significance of 18 steps in one of the previous answers. 18
Puranas, 18 Siddhas, 18 Thathwas etc. In Kerala, Lord Parasurama, installed 18 temples for
Dharma Sastha in 18 different places. In short number 18 denotes poornathvam.
There is a beautiful description about the number 18 in the Tamil epic Silappathikaram
(). The war between the Devas and Asuras went for 18 YEARS. The fight
between Rama and Ravana went on for 18 MONTHS. The war between the Pandavas and
Kauravas went on for 18 DAYS, but the battle between the King Cheran Senguttuvan and
Kanaka Vijayan went on only for 18 NAZHIKAS!
The theme of all the scriptures is the victory of the Higher Self over the lower self, the
victory of the divine over the ordinary, the triumph of Good over the forces of evil and
finally the ultimate victory of Dharma over Adharma.

In Sanskrit there is a system called Katapayaadhi which encrypts some messages using
numbers. According to this system, number 18 denotes Jaya and it means victory. Even
Mahabharatha was originally named as Jaya by Vyasa.
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Jayam Victory over self - which is the highest victory. Conquering self is nothing but
Tatvamasi. Therefore, it is denoted by 18 steps to Moksham.
What is the significance of chin mudra? Why is He sitting in that posture?
The mudra on the right hand is Chinmudra. Our Sanathana Dharma uses symbols to nudge
us towards remembering our original goal. Chin mudra too indicates this. Most of us
mistake the Mudra to be on the knee, but it is on the thigh - close to the heart. This is the
way of connecting the subtle body to the entire cosmos.

The three open fingers denote, Ahankaram, Maya and Karma - the three binding factors of
our life of Samsara. The index finger stands for the individual atman (YOU - Jeevathma) and
the thumb represents the BRAHMAN (Paramathma). The gentle touch of these two fingers
indicates the coming together the micro with the macro cosmos.
Therefore, chinmudra is eliminating the Ahankara, Maya and Karma; merging the jeevathma
into Paramathma; Chinmudra also denotes the ultimate mantra So-Hum, which can be
translated as "That-I", meaning the Universe and I are the same, that is TATVAMASI.
There are many more interpretations of this Chin Mudra and I have just explained only
one...
Bhagawan is in the form of a Guru at Sabarimala doing Tapas - contemplating on self. The
word Guru is a combination of two words Gu meaning Darkness and Ru meaning
Light. Thus, literally, Guru means The Light that dispels darkness. That Light is Jyothi
Swaroopam.
Let us pray our Guruvin Guru Lord Ayyappa to shower His grace on us to enlighten us and
give us the inner refinement.
Why are His legs tied? We heard that His legs are tied so that He doesnt stand up when
His father comes to see Him (He should not stand up as He is in meditation form).

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Father coming and son standing is a nice imaginary interpretation of the posture; nothing
more than that.
The pattam which Lord Ayyappan is having is called Yoga Pattam ... You can find a similar
yoga pattam with Yoga Narasimmar, Dakshishamoorthy and Yoga Ganapathy...
The reason why he is wearing this is Bagawan Sastha is a Yogeeshwaran by nature. (Puranas
like Skandha and Padma Puranas call Sastha with the special attribute Yogeeshwara).
Though His other attributes like Veera, Gambeera etc are established in all other Kshetrams
like Achankovil, Aryankavu etc... Bagawan's Yogic attribute is predominant at Sabarimalai
because it is the Mahayoga Peetam.

The Bagawan is sitting there doing Tapas... That is the reason the yoga pattam is tied to His
body, because His pose is called "Harivarasanam" i.e., keeping both His legs and back well
pressed on the ground, at the same time the spinal cord is straight, (A normal human cannot
sit in the posture comfortably) in order to hold the body in this particular yogic posture, the
yoga pattam is used. Using this yoga pattam one can, hold the energy and sit in the yogic
pose for a long time without any strain. (The same reason Narasimha or Dakshinamoorthy
are using this).
(Most of the temples - other than Sabarimala Sastha are seen in veerasanam. Here one leg
in touching the ground and the other leg is folded. The pattam is used to tie the folded leg
with the waist and it is called veerapattam.)
Why is Ayyappan in Sabarimala called Dharma Sastha?
Dharmasya Sasanam Karoti iti Dharma Sastha;
The word Sastha means the supreme ruler, one who orders, one who commands, one who
governs, and one who punishes. Murugan is called Brahma Sastha because He commanded
Brahma; Veerabadran is called Daksha Sastha because He punished Daksha Prajapathi. But
Hariharaputran is called Dharma Sastha because he governs Dharma. He is the one who
protects the Dharma.

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Among the Purushaarthas, Dharma comes first. Dharma is commonly understood as

referring to activities like going on pilgrimages, offering charity and performing good acts.
But these activities serve only to provide mental satisfaction.
They do not lead to the Divine. Dharma is the very embodiment of Divinity. All efforts to
achieve oneness with the Divine can alone be termed Dharma.
Dharma (Righteousness) is the root of human life. Vedhas say: "Dharmam Chara." It is an
injunction to man to practice the right conduct. Once Dharmam is restored everything else
is automatically restored.
Even in Bhagawath Geetha - Krishna Says He comes to restore when there is a decay in
Dharma. Only because of Dharma the entire cosmos exists.
When you protect the dharma the entire universe is getting blessed and in turn making
you divine. Gradually this dharma makes you an embodiment of divinity itself, which is
nothing but Tatvamasi.
Thus Bagawan is the ruler of the dharma and hence Dharma Sastha.

The following answers are the ones received from

Shri Aravind for this issue.
What is the significance of Erumeli pettai thullal?
These tribal dance forms are incorporated into today's Petta Thullal. Pettai thullal is mainly
to annihilate our ego. Without any difference of caste, creed and social status each and
every devotee sheds his ego and dances on the road.
The God who loves to sport in the forests, appears here as Kiratha Sastha - a hunter.
This hunter kills not only the animals in the forest but also the inner animals in every
spiritual aspirant. When this hunting happens, the point of awareness arises.

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The supreme hunter kills the so called "Self" and makes the devotee understand the truth of
the oneness.
Why is Karthikai month special to wear maalai? Why not other months?
Only Makara Jyoti yathra is sabari yathra. In olden days makara jyoti yathra would start
around last week of December. This means one has to complete his mandala virtham before
his kettunera. so their maladharanam happened in the month of Karthikai (Vrichikam in
Malayalam Calendar).

Why is He called Ayyapan when His name is Manikandan?

Lord Sastha in His human incarnation was called Manikandan one whose neck is adorned
with beautiful gems. But the name Ayyappan has its own origin.
One of Lord Sasthas popular names is Ayyan. Even age old texts like Tirumandiram call him
with the name Ayyan.
Ayyan mean the supreme master. This Ayyan with a suffix aar became Ayyan+aar =
Ayyanaar in Tamil Nadu. The same Ayyan with a suffix appan became Ayyan+appan =
Ayyappan in Kerala.

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Interestingly records show that Poonamallee and other areas near Madras was ruled by one
Ayyappa Naik this makes us clear that Sabarimala worship was popular and people were
devoted to keep the deitys name as early as 1570s.
Why is Sabarimala not open on all days?
The first condition for a temple is its nitya puja. Only when this is assured the installation is
planned. But in the case of Sabarimala it is the other way.
There is a reason behind this.
One must understand that Sabarimalai is Maha Yoga Peetam and Bhagawan in immersed in
yogam. And puranas say that He is always surrounded by Rishis and yogis.
Amidst dense beautiful hill the Maharishis, with their power, created a place for their
penance. They created a Golden temple and the place became the most sanctified place and
Manikandan merged with this maha peetam.

If we look in to the history, originally Sabarimala was opened only for Makara Vilakku. It is
believed that Bhagawan comes out of his yogam and opens His eyes only on this day.
Later with the increasing crowd, (after obtaining permission from the Lord through deva
prashnam) the temple opening days got extended to 5 days, then to 41 days, then once in
two months and now monthly, so whatever we get now is only a bonus.
My simple answer is: Ayyappa Darshan in Sabarimala - 120+ days for normal human beings
and remaining days for celestial being.
We see devotees wearing black attire for Sabarimala. Is this right? Usually black is not
worn for any occasions / festivals / poojas.
I have my own reservation with this question. And I dont know how many will be able to
accept this answer. But beyond doubt black is not used for any auspicious occasions or for
any good karmas. This is what sasthras prescribe. And we dont have any right to over-rule
sasthras.

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I exactly dont know when this black colour attire came into picture. May be due to the
forest atmosphere and other reasons this colour may be used by many devotees.
But it is always better to avoid black for any puja including Sabarimala yatra. In our group
we will maximum try to avoid using black clothes.
Instead blue, yellow, orange and white shall be used.
We name the children with names of God / Goddess but we never call them by that
name. We have other names which we use in school records and we call only by that
name. When they get married, we use both the names in the invitation, but never have
we called them by that name. Same way, when we perform ceremonies for our elders or
when our future generations perform ceremonies for us, these names would be used. Is
this right?
Anything which has the approval from the Sasthrams only is approved by Bhagawan
Himself. He gave us the Sasthras and definitely he will expect us to follow it.
Now coming to this query: A person belonging to Sanatana Dharma has to undergo 40
Samskaras starting even before his birth. Starting from Garbhadhanam, Pumsuvanam,
Seemantham etc etc
Only if all these are done properly his karmas are acknowledged.
Now, naming ceremony is one among the karma. Naamakaranam has to be done
ceremonially and the official name of the child has to be given.
Now for this Jeevan this will be the name. We may have any number of nick names after
that, but the name given during the Namakaranam is the original name.
In those days, the very purpose of naming the children with God / Goddess names was,
while calling the children; it would give the merit of chanting the divine names. We have
found a short cut for everything missing the original purpose.

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The jeevan, till it enters another womb, is attached with this Karma bandham. The karma of
this particular janma lies with this family, ancestors and successors, good and bad deeds. All
these are imprinted and associated with the jeevans samskaras. And this jeevan is legally
named during Namakaranam.
So while doing archanai or puja or shraddham the original name given during Namakarana
Samskaram only should be used and only this name is considered valid.
How many years old is Sabarimala and Ayyappans avatar? Any details of history?
According to Boothanatha upakyanam, Mahishi had a son, who was killed by Vaali (of
Ramayana). After the killing of Mahishi by Manikanda, the Sabarimala temple was installed
by Parasurama. Hence it belongs to Threta Yugam.

There are few historical details of a prince called Ayyappan (Arya Kerala Varman). This
advent Arya Kerala Varman who was considered as an Amsam of Lord Sastha took place
around tenth century. He restored the temple to the present state and rebuilt the Sastha
Shrine at Sabarimala. He finally merged with the deity on Makara Sankranti day. Because of
this confusion many people date Sabarimala to 900 to 1000 years which is actually wrong.
(I have written the detailed story of Arya Kerala Varman in both English and Tamil. This is an
interesting and inspiring history of Sabarimala and we still have ample evidences which stay
as a testimony to his advent).

Aravind Subramanyam

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Editors Note:
Shri Aravind Subramanyam had answered our questions through four parts, including the
one that is published in this issue. We felt that it would be a good idea to present all the
questions and answers in this issue, as a recap to all our readers, on the occasion of
Sabarimala season that is just going to commence. We hope that this segment was useful
and knowledge sharing to understand the significance of Sabarimala.

Back to Index Page

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5 Swachh Bharat Campaign in Sabarimala

Following the article that I wrote last month on how we can help in keeping the country
clean, I thought that it would be a good idea to share my thoughts on extending this to
Sabarimala as well. Tomorrow evening, the temple in Sabarimala will be open for yet
another season. From mere 100s about 6-7 decades back, the number of people coming to
Sabarimala during the season has crossed a few crores now. Though the facilities given to
pilgrims can be improved further to make it more convenient, it is the duty of each and
every one of us to do our bit to keep Sabarimala clean.
Sabarimala is a serene place. We have all seen and felt the power of God there. In many
peoples lives, a year doesnt pass without a pilgrimage there. It is because of the
undoubted faith that the devotees carry. At the same time, we have also seen, even the
senior people do not pay enough attention to maintain cleanliness there. Personally, I have
seen people spitting en route, spitting in Pamba during the dip there, throwing waste papers
and plastic covers in the path and above all smoking. I request all of you to please be
disciplined and also educate the fellow travellers and help them understand that it is the
responsibility of all of us to maintain the holiness of the temple and its surroundings.
The Kerala Government has banned the usage of plastic in Sabarimala but still we all carry
plastic covers for use. It is okay to carry it as long as we bring it back and not throw it there.
But it is sad to see people just dont care about all this.

Swacch Bharat Campaign will be successful only if each and every citizen of India
understands his / her role here. All of us can take a simple oath that we will not throw any
waste (even a small piece of paper) anywhere except in trash can. It is such a simple thing
but a very powerful and useful oath. This should not be like a New Year resolution that
many of us have taken in the past, only to be forgotten on the next day itself. Just imagine,
how many of us still continue to throw waste papers in the roads. When I drive in OMR on
the way to my office, I still see several car users throwing the toll ticket in the road, after
crossing the toll. This is such a sad state of affair. Only time will change them and we should
be patient. This is why I keep saying that each and everyone has a role to play here. We

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should keep educating people around us, so that somewhere down the lane, it will get
registered in their mind.
Harm caused by Plastic bags

Plastic bags tend to disrupt the environment in a serious way. They get into soil and slowly
release toxic chemicals. They eventually break down into the soil, with the unfortunate
consequence being that animals eat them and often choke and die.
The petroleum and the gas that are used to create plastic bags is a finite resource. We only
have a limited amount to use. We already have a problem with what we are going to do in
the next 50 100 years so why are we compounding it? There are also environmental issues
existing in their own right, when extracting petroleum from the Earth.
But perhaps a bigger problem is the sheer number of plastic bags that we consume globally,
(the current estimates are 500 million to 1 Billion throughout the world).
Over 100,000 animals are suspected of coming to this unfortunate end throughout the
world every single year, on both land and in our oceans. Plastic bags which pollute our
oceans have a bad habit of killing sea turtles in particular. They are by far the biggest
casualty in all of this as they mistake carrier bags for jelly fish, or similar and then end up
choking.

A lot of people think that paper bags are a good alternative to plastic bags but they are not.
They are actually really energy intensive and unless they are made from recycled paper
products, they are cutting down trees as well. In all honesty they are really not much better
than plastic bags.
The only real option is to go with a reusable bag. They are so called Eco bags. There is
nothing special about an eco bag, other than they are usually ethically made and are reusable. They are also far more study than a plastic bag and can often hold more than its
plastic counterpart.
The sad thing is that this is preventable if we as a species can change one minor habit in our
lives and a small one at that.

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Disciplines to follow in Sabarimala

Coming back to Sabarimala, I request the Guruswamys to bring in some additional rules
within their group from now:

Never have any item packed in plastic covers (there are some irumudi items such as
Sugar Candy or Raisins which we get in plastic covers we tend to leave it there
sometimes and we never know where these plastic covers go after that)
If any member brings any plastic cover or sheet, please instruct them to take them
back and not leave in Sabarimala, for any reason.
Do not allow anyone to throw any waste material / paper / covers enroute and in
Sabarimala and make the place dirty.
Educate all the members in the group on the importance of Swachh Bharat
Campaign and also tell anyone who dirties the place, not to do it.

All these are in our hands and we can definitely help in making Sabarimala, clean. We all
know that our favourite God lives there in Tapas form. How do we have the heart to spit
there? How do we have the heart to make it dirty? How do we expect God to listen to our
prayers, when we dont know how to respect the place?
Let us all follow the above simple rules sincerely and educate others to follow. We are sure
to see a clean, green, Sabarimala very soon.

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Death of an elephant in Sabarimala forest

As a wake up call to each devotee, I would like to quote a real incident that happened right
after the Sabarimala season earlier this year (January 2014).
Right after the Sabarimala season, during cleaning up drive, they spotted a 40 year old
female elephant found dead in the forest near Sabarimala. When the doctors conducted
post mortem on the elephant, they found 2 kilograms of plastic waste in its bowels that
included polythene carry bags, aluminium foil papers and wrappers of packed food. The
plastic articles consumed by the jumbo were believed to have been the left over of the twomonth long pilgrimage of Sabarimala.

Who is responsible for the death of this elephant? It is we, who do not realize the
seriousness of protecting the environment.
We can definitely stop another death if we behave with responsibility and spread the
awareness to others as well.
Dos & Donts:

Rain coats sold at the base of the hill should not be left on the hill.
Use butter-paper to carry essential pooja items.
Never dump food packets in river pampa.
Keep empty biscuit covers, snack packets, chocolate covers and plastic covers with
you.
Irumudi bag should not contain any item packed in plastic covers.
Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa

R Easwaran
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6 My experience with Life

I use to think from where thoughts are coming and how many of them getting processed
meaningfully and how many fail to yield results. Good, bad and ugly thoughts pertaining to
all these traits come in as we do not have control on our thought process.
Life tends to become miserable at times; sometimes unbelievable things happen too. We
have no control over it. People claim, I did it. It is because of me that it was so successful, so
we claim credit. When it is a failure, we waste no time in blaming others. Is this behavior
right? Are we in a balanced state of mind? The answer is a big NO. After all, we are all
human beings and our mood and mind are bound to oscillate, depending on the situation.
Emotions are inherent in us. A person without any emotion is equal to a dead body. Looking
at it the other way, it is good to live like a dead body without emotions. Are we responsible
for emotions or someone else is triggering the emotions from outside? Again, the answer is
NO. No outsider can be responsible to trigger the emotion in us, but only we are responsible
and we need to learn to control it.

Where is the thought coming from? How does it develop? Is it good or bad? We know that
something happens inside. But is it possible to closely observe it and gain control over it?
Definitely, it is possible. But how do we control it? It cannot happen overnight; but by
practice. By chanting slokas, mantras or hearing good things, participating in poojas or
satsang, by developing devotion over an object and many other ways to get focused on a
single thought. Over a period of time, one will gain control over your mind and grow to the
next stage of life. And then you are not a normal person any more. You dont react to the
prevailing situations. You understand that it is maya, which was driving you. You
understand the world around you was cheating you. It is quite easy to say, write and advise
but how to practize it? By sincere practice, Narendra became Swami Vivekananda,
Gangadhar became Ramarkrishna Paramahamsa, Venkatraman became Ramana Maharishi
and Rangarajan became Mahatri Ra!
....... !!!! Ramana
Maharishi
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Let us take a practical example: Swami Vivekananda, during his younger days, was a very
active child. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa understood Viveknandas superior in born qualities
(which Vivekananda had carried forward from his previous birth) slowly dragged him
towards him and then explained to him the purpose his birth. Gradually, Narendra
understood the purpose of his existence in this universe. He got enlightened and
transformed as Swami Vivekananda. Once Swami Vivekananda visited a library consisting of
thousands of books. He stayed there for some time and his neighbour asked him do you
want to read any book? Vivekananda replied that he had read all the books. The neighbour
did not believe this. Yes, even for us in a normal state of mind it is unbelievable.
Vivekananda understood this and he asked his neighbour to take any book in the library and
question him. The neighbour was stunned to notice that Vivekananda started quoting
contents of the page with book name and page number picked up from the library. It is so
certain that Vivekananda had lived with us; may have lived with our fathers and
grandfathers.

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Shri Nochur Venkatraman, a living legend as far as I am concerned, explains why we need to
perform rituals, Japa and pooja. Take a mantra like Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa, Hare
Rama Hare Krishna, Narayana Narayana. Start chanting it for a specific period; let us say
for 42 or 48 days sitting at a specific place and at a specific time in a specific posture
convenient to you. To discipline ourselves, it is very much critical and essential to have a
proper place, time and posture that remain the same till we complete chanting the mantra
for the desired number of days. Pronounce mantra loud so that your mind is focused on it
completely and does not wander around. After completing the vratham period, without
break in between, continue to perform the japam and at some point, it will become a
routine thing for you and subconsciously, you will start performing the japam or chanting
the matra every day at the same time, same place and same posture. You will realize that
something happens inside and you hear the mantra or japam through inner mind and it is at
this stage, you will start experience Aathma Gnanam. You may reach this stage in 48 or 480
or 4800 or 48000 days or even beyond it or in the next birth. This concentration is an asset
to attain the enlightenment. There is absolutely no loss. You will understand the purpose
of your existence and beyond.
Poojas that we perform are to enable us move to the next stage to get enlightened and
elevated to the next stage. There is no big rocket science behind it. Let us practice it
sincerely from now at least and see when we get elightened! Do your duty and leave the
rest to God. He knows what to give you, how to give you and when to give you!

P S Kothandaraman
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7 Truthfully, the Truth

Look around in our daily lives. We get to see Hundreds of Gods and their symbols and
artifacts. There are numerous stories and opinions about what the God is; umpteen praising
quotes and prayer methods that we hear and follow.
Righteousness! In case we extract the essence out of all religions in practice and package
that into a message capsule, it is all boiling down to Righteousness. Stay Right. Be honest.
Stick to moral values of life. Be joyful. Work from the heart. Unleash the Truth. Discipline
our senses. Manage Ego. Love is God. Be gracious. Dont burn out of desires and greed.
There is similarity and convergence in the global ethics that the human being can follow.
It is not mandatory to have Gods in a religion for, Buddha did not strive to work on God and
so is Buddhism. He realized at once, the state of bliss is when one starts observing his
instincts and emotions. He saw the evolution path in paying attention to body senses. If
love is a human emotion, so are the emotions like desire, affection and greed but the
intentions hoisted at different poles. He who works from his heart and he who sees his
mind, intellect and heart speak the same, is a light of Wisdom. And his very presence will
illuminate the surroundings, the higher the convergence the vast is the spread of radiance.
Having said that, the minds of people who indulge in fulfilling personal instinct desires,
become greed, go through the turmoil of emotional turbulence and then such individuals
invariably perish for no good. Showing affection holds one being so attached for sensory
favors and lead to grave for an unsuccessful mission of life while even if one has the
intention to be a revelation of love, then the selfless intent itself hook him with the higher
and bigger self of cosmos.
Let us brainstorm it deeper. The starting point is our own mind. A subtle aspect of our
being, often called a kind of life energy pulsation. Nevertheless, we, with our little conscious
sense, never knew how our mental behavior is articulated. If mind means simply thoughts,
then the mind is our natures most successful strategic business unit which produces
thoughts relentlessly and untiringly. If such life energy, our mind, can drive us to the main
lane of being Righteous, then we become an embodiment of peace.
If I can govern my
mind and pay attention to every thought without buckling myself by the events and
impressions of such thoughts, then I would not require a symbol of faith as God to guide my
life. Equally, I would not then require a religion, nor life principles and guidance.

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Ground reality is this, the fact still remains that my mind is ever webbed by appeals of
senses like touch, taste, music, smell and so on. Not contradicting to our original behavior
ego, we always intend to chase beauty and secure our being for a Life-as-usual moment.
That being our instinct and tendencies, it becomes a herculean task to regulate the flow of
thoughts, observe the behavior of mind, and to see a seer in us by every moment of life.
People just say, I love my car, I love my home, I love my baby, I love my life partner, I love
my mother, I love my country, I love my God and we go on using the infinite essence called
Love, for any human expression of being attached to it. It is all one and the same emotion;
we have various dimensions to it Love, Friendship, Affection, Bhakti, Respect and so on. It
is about the objective with which the emotion is subjected to. We can go introvert and find
an answer for what is that so called Love at all. Do we really love today?
To manufacture thoughts is the mind. IF there is a seer of mind, the seer is the Infinite
Existence. And so, it is significant to feel identified with the Existence rather than the
mortal flush and bones. We can recognize our identity with the Existence through
Knowledge and become aware of our original being. Love compliments Knowledge. The
attachment over some higher presence than our limited self-awareness can only be called
Love. If a husband asks his wife, where have you been last evening? is not out of love.
Being out of love is different from the expressions of longing for love. In fact, the love over
this Existence helps in our human being evolution and it also holds him feel close to the
Truth, the Reality.
We can simply get away from all conflicts of thoughts and methods of how to live by firmly
holding onto one symbol of superior faith, we can call that as God as well. The moment we
realize that, such faith system is far superior from all our worldly efforts and knowledge
gained through this birth, we then start believing ourselves identified and associated with
such superior faith value, it does not actually require any unique physical representation or
traits for gaining this experience. More so, the moment we conceive a thought that such
faith value is extraordinarily superior and it is very close to us as heart to heart, then we
simply bow down to such faith value. There, the so called ego makes way for unleashing the
spring of divinity within our own being.
How can we praise such a Faith value which is the God of all Gods of Universe? Are we
entitled for giving praise? Will that be recognized and honored by the bigger mind of the
Existence?
Why not! Hey Existence, after all I belong to you!!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

You, the silence between thoughts!

You, the meaning of Truth!
You, the ever present!
You, the only Knowledge!
You, the infinite!
You, the enliven source!
You, with no boundaries!

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8. You, the formless!

9. You, the wonder!
10. You, the Love!
11. You, the Bliss!
12. You, the Beauty!
13. You, the life Energy!
14. You, the Sounds!
15. You, the light within!
16. You, the innocence in child!
17. You, the God of Gods!
18. You, the constant in changes!

Sri Kanthan
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8 Will God come to earth again?

We are seeing in the recent times that there are more people visiting many temples and
making pilgrimages to places of religious importance more than any time in the past.
Everywhere we go (Sabarimalai, Vaishno Devi Shrine, Tiupati, Guruvayoor, Kali ghat, Siddhi
Vinayak, Akshardham or even the less popular ones) there is a long line of pilgrims waiting
for hours to get the darshan of their popular and favourite deities. If we analyze the reason
of why people go to these temples more than how it was some 10 years back, we can
attribute this surge to couple of reasons. The first one being awareness. Lots of television
channels telecast information and happenings on these temples. Internet is full of
information of such temples and the awareness is all time higher than before. Say some ten
years back, this was not the situation as very few knew about many temples and hence
people never ventured out to them. While this is not entirely true for popular temples like
Sabarimalai, or Tirupati, it certainly holds good for remote and smaller or rather less
popular temples. The bigger and more popular ones have always attracted crowd. But now
India being a country with more disposable income, people are able to spend and go to
these temples more frequently. Also the transportation and the commuting have become
easier than those days by appropriate infrastructure being made available to make the visit
easier and smoother. For example, the Amarnath yatra has become much easier with all
modes of transportation including a helicopter ride! This is the second reason. Nevertheless
what we see as a huge crowed visiting these temples or religious places of importance
represents only a small portion of our country's population.

It is not from the number of people visiting the temples we can decide if the country is back
in the religious path. Quantity may have increased compared to earlier days but the reasons
for increase in such large volume of people is not purely and strictly being religious. Also the
contributions and the donations for temples are not only from people who are willing to do
this for religious purposes. The major donations are from people who have income from unTatvamasi November 2014

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accounted sources or from super filthy rich who donate for a reason that is not really
religious. What was in olden days considered as a devotion to God has somewhere got
converted to an artificial feeling that by visiting temples one can get cleansed from more
material thoughts? This was true indeed in the olden days when people used to travel for
many number of days on legs and horses and reach the temple that used to be far away and
starved many days and such hunger and isolation led them to introspect and move closer to
spirituality on such pilgrimages. Nowadays we are so comfortable in doing the pilgrimages
that we do not even want to stand in a queue to have a darshan and can afford to pay
special rates and sevas to get access to darshan in a jiffy. Also the burgeoning number of
restaurants and hotels near by these temples provide all the comforts and nowhere there is
any thought of spirituality left for us to contemplate and introspect.

A country like India has been built by religious beliefs over several centuries and has been
the motherhouse of major religions and saints. But, we are now turning into more of
materialistic thoughts and want to live in comfort and ignore the essence and the belief of
God. Do the current generation have any great belief in religion and in God? We will find
from our own relatives and friends in India that the current generation has majorly moved
away from such things are more into material world filled of gadgets, parties, high paying
jobs, properties and cars etc. Time is being spent more on such material things than ever
before and the time that is being spent on God and spirituality has reduced significantly.
Though not all youngsters are aligned towards materialistic path, still the ratio of current
generation walking down the religious path is lesser. More news on crimes like rape, theft,
bombs, attacks, violence, murders etc. have become very common and frequent now in
each part of our country and values are all time low. The adharma or the evil has penetrated
the minds of every man and is only increasing and not reducing. One look at a daily
newspaper will confirm what kind of news we get to read today. Despite the number of
visits to temples or bathing in sacred waters, the sins are not being absolved or resolved but
are only on the increase. When such adharma is at its peak, will God take an avatar to
destroy the evil as He promised?
I feel God will not send anyone to mend the ways of how people behave in this Kali yuga. In
earlier days we have heard through mythological stories that there were few asuras and
very few evil forces. Even such asuras as we have read in our epics have attained powers
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from prayers and penances to the God. Indeed, there were very few of such evil forces and
there were many good souls who led the path of dharma. In the recent past also there were
few maha purushas (noble souls) who were born to show the path of dharma like Buddha,
Mahavira, Guru Nanak, Adi Shankara, Ramana Maharishi and Sai Baba, to name a few. They
were also born in kali yuga but were a proof that God took some form through such great
souls to reiterate if not reinstall the path of dharma. In that generation information flow
was not as it is in the current days? The glorious path was preached by such noble souls and
there were followers who took it from them and spread to other people and so the
teachings and the thoughts were spread.
In the current period we are not seeing any such noble men who brought a big change to so
many millions of people. Why are we not seeing any new Satgurus in these days? From the
days when God himself came to earth taking avatars, to the recent past when He took the
form of saints and Satgurus, to where we are now? We feel that the visits are getting sparse
or rather stopped now. Does it mean that God will not take any avatar? in whatever form?
He has repeatedly made us feel and has supported mankind either directly or through His
messengers. But we havent learnt. He has given us the intelligence and the opportunity to
learn. In this current information filled generation, we have everything that we need to
know and learn. Each of us is filled with the qualities of God and the Devil evenly spread in
our minds. Each of us has the Good and Bad in us. We sometimes realize our God in us and
many times act our devil in us.

Let us take few of the avatars of God to analyse what it teaches us from a macro point of
view:
The evolution of God in each avatar is a learning for us. In the beginning He took form of a
Fish. An animal that can live only in water. In the next He took the form of a Tortoise. An
animal that can live in water and land. The next a pig, a lower form of an animal that can live
in land. Next a half human and half animal - Narasimha. He had evolved from a simple
animal to half human. The next one was a short man like a pygmy. He evolved to become a
human (Vamana) from being half animal (Narasimha) and used the intelligence in sorting
out with Bali. Then He took Parasurama, a sage. After that, Rama! Who lived and showed
how a man should live and can be worshipped as a God not because he was a God but
because of he was the example of how a man should live. Continuing Rama avatar, He took
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Balarama and Krishna; trickier than the Rama avatar, of not just being simple and
straightforward but, Krishna, who did all kinds of strategies to win over the evil. All along in
these avatars we can see a common thread running. We can see that God also evolved
depending on the level of atrocities and the level of evil that was prevalent during that time.
Also the ways and strategies used to win over the evil evolved over the period of time. Until
the time of Krishna, we can see that each of the other avatars was only to fight one evil or
may be a few. But since the Krishna avatar, there were more number of evils that were to
be fought.
But in this Kali yuga, we can see that the evil is not just in one person or a bunch of bad
people, but is spread in each of us humans. In such a situation, how will a God be able to
take an avatar to destroy the evil in each of us? He has His own ways.
If we look at what happened in each of the avatars we can get clues of what God intended
and had in store for us in this generation.
In the Kurma avatara, he formed the base of the churn as a huge tortoise. Tortoise is known
for its stability and patience and strength. This happened at the time of turbulence, at a
time of fight between devas and asuras. It means if there is a fight between the evil in our
heart and the good in our heart, we will be able to churn ourselves and our minds by taking
the support of God as the base. That means if we install the spiritual base of the supreme
God and churn ourselves and our thoughts, God helps us by being the main base to get the
result of the churn. The churn will certainly result in good vibhoothi coming out. In the
Narasimha avatar, He formed half human and half God and proved his omnipresence. What
it teaches us is that wherever we may be born, (like how Prahalada was born in an evil asura
family) when we are installing the spiritual thought in our mind, we can be affirmative that
Gods omnipresence will guide and help us despite whatever happens in our surroundings.
In the vamana avatar, He proved beyond doubt that however good and great one may be, if
the ego gets over the head of that person, it will only result in him being subdued by even a
small man!
In Rama avatar, He made us realize that even monkeys can be worshipped and no one is
lesser than the other if God is present in them!
In Krishna avatar, He made us realize that dharma is anything over and above our emotions.
In each of these avatars He has made sure that there is a lesson for us in our day to day
lives. In each circumstance of life we have to make Him take an appropriate form to kill the
demon in us. When we think we have accomplished in life, our ego shoots up and it can
make us do things that are not good at. We need to get His Avatar of Vamana at that time in
our minds. In the times of depression or in times of confusion, we need to install the
Khoorma in our minds to churn us to get the vibhoothi that we need.
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He has given our sixth sense to realize His actions and He takes His avatar in each of our
worlds and in our minds. It is us who need to keep the eyes of our minds and heart open to
let Him take the appropriate avatar at the right time. Gods words are not false!
He did mean when He said Sambhavaami yuge yuge!

Let us worship God sincerely and surrender at His feet and leave the rest to Him.
Today is that Tomorrow that you were worried about Yesterday

Srirama Srinivasan
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Page 47

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Please send your feedback to

easwaran_ram@yahoo.co.in

SUBHAM

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