swami saranam

swamiye ayyappo,ayyappo swamiye
swami tindaka tome tome-ayappa tindaka tome tome
deva ne devi ye,devi ye deva ne
ishwara ne ishwari ye,ishwari ye ishwara ne
irumudi kattu sabarimalaiki-sabarimalaki irumrdi kattu
swamiye saranam ayyappoo......

the above hymn began gaining in intensity,reverberatin as v approached the 18steps leadin into the lord ayyappa's devaswom.suddenly our adrenaline shot up several fold maskin our fatigue n wit god's grace we succesfully ascended the 70 deg inclined steps witout any hurdle.

I had watched this in kannada movie 'manikantana mahime' n each yr while watchin makara jyoti in tv ,my desire of goin to sabarimalai overwhelmed.this long nurtured prayer of mine was finally answered by manikanta on jan11 wen (me swamy,kalli[k] swamy,pagella[p] swamy,rasna[r] swamy,anand[a] swamy) 5 of us wore 'mala' in a temple in sajjan rao cirkl n transferred ourselves transiently from bein calld by nicknames to bein calld as swamis. v now had great responsibilities of maintainin the sanctity of 'mala' by gettin up befor sunrise,havin a cold watr bath twice-dawn n dusk,goin to temple n offerin pooja,walkin bare foot,abstainin from smokin-alkoaloo-n above all maintainin our "v".v kanya swamis tried our best.

jan12-irumudikattu was made by guru swamis which consistd of coconut filled wit ghee,rice,kunkuma arisina.we then set our theerta yatra in 'a' swamis zen car.'p'swamii acceleratd till krsnagiri for he succumbed to his anger which budded out of a quarrel b/w him n 'a' swami .latr i took control of wheels till dundigal.we then savoured bibibele bath [bbb],curd rice prepared by 'p'swamis amma-whose significance we latr realizd in the yatra wer v were devoid of good food.kuble aunty..

'a' swami latr covrd most of the distance inspite of quarrelli of grt intensity wit 'k' swami ovr wer to halt that night.but latr all 5 swamis came to consensus of travellin @ nt.kudos to 'p'swamy for effectivly managin the ghat sectn.by around 2 in the mornin we reachd sabarimalai n by god's grace got parkin space @1km from foothills.[durin sabarimala pilgrimage its difficult to get parkin space n have to park vehikls10-30km from foothills]toilets in sabarimala wer @ their usual worst. takin 3 holy dip in pampa rivr v loadin our respectiv irumudis on our head @ 6 ,headed uphill 8km-chikka pada-. initial 4km was apparantely free of crowd but last 4 km was the test of our patience-swami saranam

v wer locked in barricades as part of crowd control strategy durin which v met many kannada swamis most of them from badravati addin to 'k' n 'r' swami's pride.furthr ayyappa testd our temperment threshold wen the lane nxt to us nvr stood stagnant n our's nvr flowed.it was 24hrs since we last fed ourslvs.by ayyapas grace n palgun swamis amma's bbb[ate 24hrs back] n the very energetic cosmos of the holy place v could tide ovr the crisis.

7 in the evnin, 13hrs since v set off our ascent to sabarimala,wit irumudi on our head n havin lost the sensatn of it[bluntin of pressure receptors],v finally entrd the devaswom climbin the 18 sacred steps n our praisin of lord shied the thunder in skies.7.20 @@@last v finally had the darshan of 'manikanta'clad wit flowrs in the sanctam sanctorum lit only wit deepa's addin to the mesmerisin beauty n for that moment v forgot all our pains.

danyosmi swami navella danyosmi

as v came out of the temple i sighed out of contentment for my childhood dream of cmin on a yatra to sabarimalai was fulfilled by the swami.

v then finished the othr rituals of the yatra n had broke our apparent fastin[for v had eaten few grams]n climbed down the hill.1.30 in the night v came nr our car wer 'a' swamy was waitin for us.......'a' swami could not stand in the q for the fatso had lost stamina n took spl permission from the police n had the darshan n had come back to parkin lot by 8.he had only 100rs which he had spent on sandals.he was waitin there since 8.......the pitiful fact was that car was his,he had the mobile n money, but evrtin the car ky ,his mobile,his wallet was wit us.8-1.30 he had to wait in the cold nit.

as v approached the car 'a' swami stood in the way n i could sense some masculine adrenaline pumped reactn from him .intense"matina chakamaki"b/w 'p' n 'a' n 'k' swamis usin f*#$ word.'r' swami tried his best to pacify the situatn but notin could stop the saliva spurtin out of 'a' mouth just like lava from a volcano.i was a silnt spectator.bcoz of this turbulence in our relatnship 'a' swami slept in his car n v on a open air papr bed.

14 jan-nxt mornin wen evrtin had pacified n our emotions bein streamlined all the 5 swamis again bound togthr had the worst breakfast.it was anothr day i had aspired for--the makara jyothi[star] n makaravillaku[celestial light lit in the erumaley forest by the tribesmen]-- to watch this around 30 lakh devotees had thronged the sabarimala premesis.it can be watched eithr from the hill,or pampa,or pulimedu.v went to pampa rivr bank n @ 7.05p.m v saw the divine light.

it was of greaat solace to my soul

v then hurried to our parkin lot to go out of sabarimala @ the earliest,for to escape the traffic jam.but the police had blockd our way out.as v wer restin in our car in the parkin lot,v heard siren of an ambulance.latr the frequency of ambulance movin around increased.v thought of some minor incidents,injuries which r common wen peopl r in such huge nos.my fathr calld me then n told that some tragedy of high human mortality n morbidity has happnd wich he came across a news channel.v immediatly enquired the local police.stampede causin human loss of 100 n more had occured @ pulimedu.by ayyapas grace v had cancelled our plans of goin to pulimedu to watch makara jyothi the previous day.let all those who died,their souls rest in peace.

jan 15-v then left sabarimala @1 in the mornin n reached madurai @10 n headed 2wards avaniyapuram to watch 'jallikattu'.havin reached bengaluru @7 v got freshed up in 'p'swamis house n headed 2wards sajjan rao cirkle ayyapa temple from wer we had put our malas.the priest took off the malas n thus v successfully completed our yatra.swami saranam

this yatra fulfilled my childhood dream,blended all 5 swamis 2gethr,gave us an oppurtunity to realise how strong v wer[fastin,walkin barefoot in the forest,cold watr bath,standin in the q for 14hrs,n moreover made us mentally strong to face all atrocities in life.

i strongly recommend all my frns to @least go on a sabarimalai yatra once in life.

... swamiye saranam ayyappa ...