I was around seven when I went with my grandfather, Sabarimala Supreme Priest Kandararu Maheshwararu, to Sabarimala for the first time. Our first stop was at Erumeli, in the famous Bavar Mosque. Offering our respects there, we went to Ayyappa temple next to it, and as a young kid who grew up in the “world of gods & idols”, I was surprised. One shrine, called ‘Bavar Shrine’ there had no idols. As a Brahmin kid, my natural question to my grandfather was, "Where did the Bavar idol go? Did you take it to the Pampa river for a dip?”
My grandfather replied, “Bavar Swamy is Ayyappa’s best friend. Bavar believes in "nirguna or worship without idol". So, when we decided to honour him around 1,000 years ago, we built a temple for Bavar without idols, respecting Islam.” That is the essence of India, India's great pluralistic and secular soul. Every child who goes to that shrine asks where is the idol, and grandfathers over the centuries have invoked the message "Ekam Sat, Vipraha bahuda vadanti".. Truth is one, the wise say it in many ways.
Even more fascinating is the story of Ayyappa. His real name was Manikanta, a Pandyan prince born in Kerala to Jayantan and Maya, around Kolla Varsham 200. AD 1050 or so. He was a Yogi, Kalari expert and a warrior. He commanded two Army battalions, a Nair army and a Muslim army with Bavar as its head. Ayyappa studied in Ezhava Cheerapanchira Kalari, with the assistance of Arthunkal Christian Church's Father Veluthachan.
Manikanta was named Ayyappa because he joined the Ayya and Appa. Ayya means Vishnu, Appa means Shiva. Our land was consumed by fighting in the name of the gods Vishnu and Shiva, over which of them to worship. Manikanta came along and said, both are equal, and created a synthesis. The dacoit-king Udayana, who had captured Sabarimala, was looting it. Ayyappa and Bavar fought against him and won back Sabarimala. The Erumeli Pettathullal is the ‘military drill’, and like ‘Har Har Mahadev’ or ‘Allahu Akbar’, ‘Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa’ was the war cry then, both spiritual and social.
Sabarimala's Pratishta Sankalp or idol concept is Naishtika Brahma charya. This is well documented by Kerala High Court and British records. You might have observed, Sabarimala is a very unique spiritual centre in the world, with black as dress code, 41 days Vrata and associated acharas.
Crores of pilgrims come every year to "re-live" that experience, to view the Makara Jyothi (the star Sirius) on the horizon and the Makara Vilakku, the Malayaraya ritual that has been performed for centuries to mark the end of the Sabarimala season. Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa!
(Rahul Easwar, author, activist and grandson of the chief priest of Sabarimala, has defended the ban on women entering the temple citing the Naishtika Brahmacharya pratishta)
