It's that TIME again in Kerala- from the 17th of this month to the 14th of January!
The Sabirimala season is upon us again!!
The next 2 months will see most people living in this area, leaving home with a ferverent prayer that they will return safely.
With the advent of the Ayappan season, we find the craziest drivers from all over South India tearing down our roads, with no thought to their own safety or to the safety of the other road users.
For those of you who have no clue as to what I'm talking about, let me give you a brief rundown on what the Sabarimala season is all about:
The temple on Sabarimala, in central Kerala, enshrines a very popular divinity, Dharmastha, also known as Ayyappa, also called Sastha in ancient times. Legend has it that Lord Vishnu once took the form of an enchanting woman to distract the attention of some demons. By chance Lord Shiva was attracted to her form & the resultant union was Sastha.
One day the King of Pandalam, whose territory included Sabarimala, while hunting in the surrounding forest, was enchantend by this beautiful child that he saw (Sastha) and adopted him, as he had no children of his own at that time. The boy grew up a Prince mastering all the arts and statecrafts
Meanwhile a male child was born to the Royal couple, and the Queen was jealous of Sastha. She therefore plotted to get rid of him, by feigning an illness that could be cured only by drinking tiger's milk. Ayyappa volunteered to go into the forest to fetch the milk.
In the forest, Ayyappa met Lord Indira, who was being harassed by a demoness named Mohini. This demoness could only die at the hands of an issue of Vishnu & Shiva. Ayyappa killed the demoness & Indira in gratitude offered him the services of his servants, who transformed themselves into tigers.
Ayyappa returned to Pandalam with the tigers & the Queen frightened at the sight of him riding on one of the tigers begged his forgiveness. He forgave her and rvealed his true identity to them.
It is believed that the King requested Ayyappa to make Sabarimala his abode and built a temple for him there.
Devotees, from all over the South & indeed now even from the North flock to this temple during these 2 months, making life for most residents here absolutely miserable. Most devotees travel by road, using the most dilapidated looking vehicles, with even more dated looking drivers. They don't seem to have been taught even the very basics of driving. They drive on the wrong side of the road, overtake at corners, obviously imagining that they are protected by some divine power.
It's quite obvious that they are protected by some divine spirit, but the same doesn't always apply to the locals. It's quite amazing, the number of accidents that take place during this period, and surely there is some divine power preventing many accidents of the fatal kind.
This brings to mind an incident that happened to an uncle of mine. Blissfully asleep in the back of his car, his driver went screeching round a sharp curve on the wrong side of the road. Luckily for them, this bus full of Ayyappa devotees, also came screeching round the same bend, at the same time, and also on the wrong side of the road. Both vehicles continued on their way as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Just another day during the season !!
So anybody coming/planning to visit God's Own Country(GOC), please be extra careful on the road.
Oh, and also watch where you step as GOC during this period becomes God's own Toilet.
More on this later - maybe- but it's enough to drive anybody straight to the 19th !!
The Sabirimala season is upon us again!!
The next 2 months will see most people living in this area, leaving home with a ferverent prayer that they will return safely.
With the advent of the Ayappan season, we find the craziest drivers from all over South India tearing down our roads, with no thought to their own safety or to the safety of the other road users.
For those of you who have no clue as to what I'm talking about, let me give you a brief rundown on what the Sabarimala season is all about:
The temple on Sabarimala, in central Kerala, enshrines a very popular divinity, Dharmastha, also known as Ayyappa, also called Sastha in ancient times. Legend has it that Lord Vishnu once took the form of an enchanting woman to distract the attention of some demons. By chance Lord Shiva was attracted to her form & the resultant union was Sastha.
One day the King of Pandalam, whose territory included Sabarimala, while hunting in the surrounding forest, was enchantend by this beautiful child that he saw (Sastha) and adopted him, as he had no children of his own at that time. The boy grew up a Prince mastering all the arts and statecrafts
Meanwhile a male child was born to the Royal couple, and the Queen was jealous of Sastha. She therefore plotted to get rid of him, by feigning an illness that could be cured only by drinking tiger's milk. Ayyappa volunteered to go into the forest to fetch the milk.
In the forest, Ayyappa met Lord Indira, who was being harassed by a demoness named Mohini. This demoness could only die at the hands of an issue of Vishnu & Shiva. Ayyappa killed the demoness & Indira in gratitude offered him the services of his servants, who transformed themselves into tigers.
Ayyappa returned to Pandalam with the tigers & the Queen frightened at the sight of him riding on one of the tigers begged his forgiveness. He forgave her and rvealed his true identity to them.
It is believed that the King requested Ayyappa to make Sabarimala his abode and built a temple for him there.
Devotees, from all over the South & indeed now even from the North flock to this temple during these 2 months, making life for most residents here absolutely miserable. Most devotees travel by road, using the most dilapidated looking vehicles, with even more dated looking drivers. They don't seem to have been taught even the very basics of driving. They drive on the wrong side of the road, overtake at corners, obviously imagining that they are protected by some divine power.
It's quite obvious that they are protected by some divine spirit, but the same doesn't always apply to the locals. It's quite amazing, the number of accidents that take place during this period, and surely there is some divine power preventing many accidents of the fatal kind.
This brings to mind an incident that happened to an uncle of mine. Blissfully asleep in the back of his car, his driver went screeching round a sharp curve on the wrong side of the road. Luckily for them, this bus full of Ayyappa devotees, also came screeching round the same bend, at the same time, and also on the wrong side of the road. Both vehicles continued on their way as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Just another day during the season !!
So anybody coming/planning to visit God's Own Country(GOC), please be extra careful on the road.
Oh, and also watch where you step as GOC during this period becomes God's own Toilet.
More on this later - maybe- but it's enough to drive anybody straight to the 19th !!
No comments:
Post a Comment