Sabarimala: Sri Ayyappa temple

[brahman]

[CENTER]

SWAMI SARANAM AYYAPPA SARANAM

The annual two-month-long Mandalam-Makaravilakku season at Sri. Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple is all set to begin on the first day of Malayalam month of Vrichikam on Thursday 17 November 2011. }}}

How to prepare }}}

A 1942 picture by Sri. Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, seniormost member of Travancore's erstwhile royal family (Trivandrum) during his brothers’(who was then King of Travancore) visit to the Holy shrine.

SWAMI SARANAM AYYAPPA SARANAM

[brahman]

SWAMI SARANAM AYYAPPA SARANAM

The associated rituals of Sri. Lord Ayyappa reflect the strong influence of the traditions from Shivam, Vaishnavam, Buddhism and Jainism. The name, Dharma Shastha and the prayer song "Swamiye Saranam" strongly indicate the influence of Buddhism in Ayyappa worship. The Vrath and strict code of conduct including the dietary restrictions (Vegetarian) can possibly due to the influence of Jainism in the Deep South.


The seeker undertakes the pilgrimage to liberate the human soul from the worldly possessions with great determination, devotion and dedication. During the journey to Sri. Sabari Hills the devotees recite "Swamye Saranam; Ayyappa Saranam" (Thou protect me and I surrender). The minds of the devotees are filled with the thought of Ayyappa and devotees call and recognize each other by the name of Ayyappa! Everyone seems to dress alike, look alike, talk alike and think alike! Every devotee becomes a Karma Yogi, Jnana Yogi and also a Bhakti Yogi! The only Karma (action) left for the Devotee is to reach the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Sabari Hill Ayyappa. The Devotee has the wisdom to dissolve the identity of Jeeva (Ego) by filling up the mind with the name and form of Ayyappa. The Devotee purifies the mind through total dedication and surrender to Swami Ayyappa.


The perfect culmination of Karma, Jnana and Bhakti Yogas is visible and the devotees don't care which of the three is dominant over the other two. Their level of experience has already gone beyond intellectual perception and limitation. Suddenly all plurality starts dissolve and the ego starts melt like the butter. Devotees experience the taste of Bliss and all of them merge to become ONE. What they see, hear, touch, smell and taste is Ayyappa and only Ayyappa. All their desires totally merged into only one desire to reach and surrender to Ayyappa. The sound of "Swamiye Saranam! Ayyappa Saranam!" fills the air giving the feeling their journey is eternal and they have the great determination to find and merge with the Truth.


When the human perception reaches the higher levels beyond the physical limitation, inner peace emerges with the protection by the recitation sound of Ayyappa. The devotees of Sri. Ayyappa are able to realize perfect harmony between the Karma (body), Jnana (mind) and Bhakti (spirit). The Sabari Hills becomes a Concert Hall filled with the musical haromony of Karma, Jnana and Bhakti. The performers, the performance, and listeners become unified and experience the taste of Bliss. During this eternal journey, on the night before the Makara Sankranthi day (Middle of Januray - Full Moon Day) hundreds of thousands of those pilgrims go to foot of the Sabari Hills to get a glimpse of the Divine Jyothi, a brilliant light that raises over the Kantha hill (adjacent to the Sabari Hill). Devotees consider this Jyothi to be a symbol of eternal Brahman in the form of Lord Ayyappa, the highest spiritual consciousness. Nobody can either confirm or deny that this is true and such Divine incidents are unexplainable and are beyond human perception!


The Makarasankaranthi is an auspicious day corresponds to the time period when sun passes the winter solstice (one of the two points on the ecliptic at which its distance from the celestial equator is greatest and which is reached by the sun each year).

The pilgrims visiting on this occasion undertake strict and rigorous preparations. They start with a 'Vrath' (pledge for religious observance) lasting for forty-one days, starting from the middle of November. All wear black or saffron clothes and thulasi, rudraksha beads, and strictly observe their daily rituals. The devotees observe austerities and self-control on those days. They eat pious vegetarian food, drink non-alcoholic beverages, and pray Swamiye Saranam. Before starting the pilgrimage to Sabari Hills, each devotee prepares an Irumudi (A bag with two separate compartments and with two knots) for the long and strenuous journey through jungles. The front compartment contains the ghee-filled coconut and the other one includes food and personal belongings. The devotee walks by foot all the eight miles from the shore of the Pampa river to Swami Sannidhanam (the open hall in front of the Sanctum Sanctorum), crosses the eighteen steps and pours the ghee over the idol of the Lord Ayyappa.

SWAMI SARANAM AYYAPPA SARANAM

[brahman]

SWAMI SARANAM AYYAPPA SARANAM

Advance Q-Placement Coupon

This facility is provided by the Department of Police-Kerala ,as a part of Crowd Management which in turn saves precious time of the Pilgrims. }}}

SWAMI SARANAM AYYAPPA SARANAM

[shian]

I dont know in Buddhism, Lord Ayyappa is who .... and i want to know
Yes maybe many peoples said this is not important thing, but for me its make me joy to see all the play of Baghavan !

Well i wish i can go to India sometimes, and i wish i can go with my parents, with them visited so many Hindu and Buddha sites.

is already a long time i thinking about India and want to go there.

my dear all HDF friends, if you kind, please pray for me in front of Lord when you doing puja., said :"I wish my HDF friend, Shian from Indonesia, can visit India with his parents."

Thank you

[brahman]

SWAMI SARANAM AYYAPPA SARANAM

Sri Mad Gita and 18 steps

The Eighteen Steps to the Path of Liberation:The eighteen steps of the temple Sanctorum represent the necessary Spiritual Sadhana to go Beyond human perception. This is the symbolic path of the Realization of Truth and potentially, there are infinite explanations.
The eighteen chapters of Gita appear to be the most pertinent explanation of the eighteen steps of Sabari Hill Temple. While crossing each of the eighteen steps to the Ayyappa Swami Sannidhanam, the Seeker expresses great determination to relinquish the sensual perceptions one by one. The necessary Sadhana to prepare the mind, body and intellect to remove the sensory perceptions are beautifully described in the eighteen chapters of Bhagavad Gita. The crossing of the eighteen steps symbolic completion of Sadhanas stated in the eighteen chapters of Gita.

Chapter 1 : The Seeker's status of mind - Confusion, Fear and Misery - Seeks help from Guru.
Chapter 2: Seeker asks the Guru to explain the Truth of Human Life sThitaPrajnA Yagna - Conversation between Arjun and Sri. Krishna)
Chapter 3: Guru explains the path of Karma Yoga.
Chapter 4: Seeker learns the principles behind the Sanyasa Yoga.
Chapter 5: Seeker understands the importance of renunciation of selfish Desires.
Chapter 6: Seeker learns the Sadhana of Meditation to control the mind.
Chapter 7: Guru teaches the Seeker the ways and means of living without desires.
Chapter 8: Guru illustrates the importance of restraining the nine-gated city of human body.
Chapter 9: Seeker learns to divert the attention away from the ego-centered consciousness to the Divine Planes transcendental knowledge.
Chapter 10: Guru teaches the Buddhi Yoga Sadhana to control the Mind and the senses.
Chapter 11: Seeker understands the essence of Bhakti Yoga Sadhana and direct complete attention to God while carrying out the duties.
Chapter 12: Seeker learns to Devote and Contemplate and gets the qualities of a True Devotee.
Chapter 13: Guru describes the qualities of a True Jnanai with Total Wisdom.
Chapter 14: Seeker learns the Sadhana of Perfection and the qualities of a Perfect Yogi.
Chapter 15: Guru teaches the Yoga of Supreme Person to the Seeker.
Chapter 16: Seeker learns to acquire the True Human Nature with the presence of Divinity.
Chapter 17: Guru teaches the fundamentals of the Yoga of the Threefold Division of Faith.
Chapter 18: Seeker regains the memory and renounces the egocentric desires.

It is possible to explain the connection between the eighteen chapters of Gita and the eighteen steps of the Ayyappa temple. The devotees of Sri Ayyappa believe that the Gita verse 66 in Chapter 18 is a direct reference to Dharma Shasta. Dharma Shasta establishes the Dharma and the entire Gita describes the importance of human Dharma and the only way to abaondon the Dharma is surrendering to unto Lord.

Sarvadharman Parityajya Mamekam Saranam Vraja;
Aham Twaam Sarve Papebhyo Mokshayishayami Ma Sucha
(Abandon Worldly Dharmas and Surrender to Me; I Shall Rescue You From Sins and Sorrows).

This verse is commonly present in all Ayyappa temples and the devotees treat this verse as a direct commandment from Dharma Shasta. First line of the verse asks the devotee to abandon worldly Dharmas. Dharmas refer to rules, standards and laws imposed by society to guide material life. The root cause of material life is desires. Sorrows, Sins and Attachments are illusions of lower ignorant consciousness of mind.


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Dear Shian,

All our prayers are there with you and your parents. Prayers to Lord Ayyappa will be answered and you will certainly enjoy the bliss visiting the sacred land Bharat with your parents.

Let you be showered with blessings at the thousands of worship places of all religions here.

My exchange meant to convey that Lord Ayyappa cult has had certain influence of Buddhist traditions, but that does not mean Lord Ayyappa is directly associated with Buddhist Lords.

Let’s focus on the core message of Sabarimala pilgrimage in this thread , and we may deal with Buddhism in ‘other dharma traditions’ if you don't mind .

God bless you all. LoVE

SWAMI SARANAM AYYAPPA SARANAM

[devotee]

I dont know in Buddhism, Lord Ayyappa is who .... and i want to know
Yes maybe many peoples said this is not important thing, but for me its make me joy to see all the play of Baghavan !

Well i wish i can go to India sometimes, and i wish i can go with my parents, with them visited so many Hindu and Buddha sites.

is already a long time i thinking about India and want to go there.

my dear all HDF friends, if you kind, please pray for me in front of Lord when you doing puja., said :"I wish my HDF friend, Shian from Indonesia, can visit India with his parents."

Thank you

My prayer for you in another thread !

OM

[Brahmanyan]

Pilgrimage to Sabarimala.

When the call comes from the Lord, everything happens fast. It happened to me in 2008. On Monday 18th of February, 2008, we returned from Sabarimala after having had the Dharshan of Lord Sri Ayyappa. It all happened so quickly I could not believe how I made it. It all started when my brother-in-law informed that he would be going to the Holy Sabarimala during the monthly opening of the Temple during this Malayalammonth of "Kumbam", with the group of devotees who go with him regularly. He was visiting the Temple for the past 26 years. My eight year old grand daughter Sharada, who was regularly watching a serial on the Lord Ayyappa in TV , wanted to have the Dharshan of the Lord in Sabarimalai. Child's words are God's command. Then my son agreed to take her along with the group. This rekindled my desire to visit the Temple for the third time. But now I am 77 and have high BP. This made me apprehensive whether I would be able to climb the hills with out problem. My Doctor gave the clearance and other members of the family encouraged me to take the pilgrimage.

We got Rail too without much difficulty. My grand daughter, son and I joined the group at for the Pooja and "irumudi" before starting. We proceeded to Chengannur, the nearest rail head for Sabarimala by ] and reached the place early next morning. After refreshing ourselves and bath we traveled by the Van prearranged to take us to Pampa at the base of the Holy Hills.

We started the climb at about 10.00AM. The distance from Pampa to the Holy Shrine at the top of Sabarimalais only 4.5 KMS. But it is 60 degree steep climb for about 2.5 KMS. with continuous stone steps and concrete path. The hot sun has heated up the stone steps and concrete path and made difficult for walking bare foot. The progress was slow and after some distance I started feeling the effects of my age and the heat. In spite of the best help from my son and my brother I could not climb the steps continuously. I took rest frequently and proceeded slowly at my own speed. But my only concern was that because of me my grand daughter, son and brother were getting delayed and may not be able to reach the Holy Shrine before it closes at 1.00 PM after the mid day Pooja.

But the intentions of the Lord were different. At about 12.45 noon, when we were just half a kilometer from the Holy Abode of Sri Ayyappa, we got a phone call from my brother in law, that the Temple will be closed at 2.00PM only on that day due to an elaborate Sahsra Kalasabhishekam, that was being performed to the Lord. You can understand my joy which brought tears in my eyes. Even in this age of Kali, miracles do happen, no doubt.

We reached the Holy Abode of Lord Dharma Sastha , and climbed the Eighteen Golden Steps with "Irumudi" and had the Dharshan of Lord Ayyappan at the "karpoora harathi" time. Perhaps I was the only person who could observe the whimsical smile on the beautiful face of Harihara Puthran, in the diffused light of surrounding lamps.

We enjoyed the Dharshan of the Lord in the evening also. Next day early morning we witnessed the "Abhishekam" to the Lord arranged by our group and took his blessings before we left for Pampa on our way back home.

How true are the words of Madhusudana Saraswthi who wrote the Dhyana Slokas for Bagavad Gita, who said:

"Mookam Karoti Vachalam, Pangum Langhayate Girim"

"His grace makes the dumb eloquent, and the cripple cross mountains."

Regards,

Brahmanyan,

Bangalore

[brahman]

SWAMI SARANAM AYYAPPA SARANAM

The Meditating Yogic posture of Sri Ayyappa represents the Nirguna Brahman.

The rear compartment of the Irumudi symbolizes 'Praarabdha Karma' (accumulated worldly possessions).
The devotee exhausts all the worldly possessions during the journey.
The devotee opens the spiritual eye of the coconut, breaks the coconut and pours the ghee (Atman) onto the idol (Brahman).
At this time, the devotee has detached the ego and worldly possessions. The one develops an attitude of total surrender to the Lord (infinite love for the Lord).
The devotee begs Him to grant the total Unity with the Lord.
This liberation of Atman from Ego and Wordily Possessions is the Message of Vedanta in Symbolic Language.
This Symbolism is flawless and complete. What a beautiful demonstration of the Artistic Perfection of Symbolism in the great land of Sri. Adi. Sankara and Sri. Narayana Guru!

One of the main objectives of this article is to illustrate the hidden treasures underneath the Hindu rituals, customs and traditions. If we take time and efforts to understand the spirit behind those beliefs and traditions it is possible to appreciate and understand the philosophical significance.
The devotees with great faith have neither question nor they seek explanations. Those who question the customs, beliefs and traditions have the responsibility to take time to look and contemplate for the answers. When a westerner wants to know the connection between the scriptures, philosophies, customs, beliefs and traditions, we should also take time to explain to clear their doubts.
Such explanations with contemplation can clear our doubts and doubts of our energetic and enthusiastic children who were born and live outside India. This moral responsibility was visualized by the sages and Seers of the Upanishads and they have provided the answers to almost all questions related to human life.
The land of Great Seers, the God’s own country, Kerala, practices mystic festivals, pilgrimages and rituals to explain the Vedantic Philosophy of Human Life to the common folks of rural India.

The great Gurus like Sri. Adi Sankara, Sri. Naryana Guru, Sri. Chinmayaananda, Sri. Sathyananda Saraswathi, Sri. Nitya Yati, Sri. Jnananda Sarswati, Sri. Karnunakara Guru ,Amrita Puri Amma etc hail from this tiny land understood the unity from such diversities and especially Sri. Sankara's and Narayana Guru’s Advaita doctrines represents this total integration of thoughts, beliefs, customs and traditions. This integration is the purest form of human experience and it can neither be explained nor could be understood logically.

SWAMI SARANAM AYYAPPA SARANAM