Mandalam Musings Day 16 - Swamy Ayyappa and Special traditions at Sabarimala

 

Mandalam Musings Day 16

Swamy Ayyappa and Special traditions at Sabarimala

Sabarimala temple follows a strict tantric tradition and the deity there is Swamy Ayyappa, who has been conceived as a renunciate, a Sanyasi. The bhava of the deity is that of a celibate monk and he is envisioned as sitting in a specific yoga posture, fully immersed in meditation.  He has ‘allowed’ his devotees to visit him only a few days in a year as he is absorbed in meditation all other times. Maintaining all the associated conditions for a deity to continue its austere life is the responsibility of the society and of course, it is the duty of the society to look after a minor –mind you, a temple deity is a perpetual minor, according to Indian laws.

Here the Swamy Ayyappa is a “Naishtika Brahmachari” (who avoids all eight levels of potentially breaching a celibate life) and a sanyasi. That is one of the reasons why women between the ages of 10 and 50 are not allowed to take part in the pilgrimage. Men take the Vratham for 41 days emulating the austere life of Swamy Ayyappa and try to get inspired from it. The Ayyappa deity in Sabarimala is specifically intended for this purpose and the associated rituals and conditions are part of this temple’s identity.  Any deviation from the conceptual framework of this tradition would nullify the effectiveness of the temple as an inspiration for millions of pilgrims.

Is Swamy Ayyappa being partial to menfolk devotees? Not at all. We must recognize that there are several temples in India that allow only women devotees to worship there. Also, it must be noted that there are several temples in Kerala and elsewhere in the world that is dedicated to Swamy Ayyappa as Sree Dharma Sastha, the avatar-root of Ayyappa. In those temples, the deities are consecrated and worshipped in a youngster (Brahmachari Sastha at Kulathooppuzha), a householder (Garhastha Sastha at Ariyan Kavu ), and a forest dweller (Vanaprasthan at Achan Kovil) form. Sree Dharma Sastha is in the Sanyasi (celibate monk) form at Sabarimala and the restrictions are specific to that form of Sastha only. Dharma Sastha at Aryan Kavu is in the householder form with two wives and children! The restrictions at Sabarimala are kept for certain defined purposes and cannot be considered discriminatory. A man is a son to his mother, lover to his wife, father to his daughter, and so on, and we know that the roles are well defined. Similarly, Sree Dharam Sastha is in different forms (Bhava) at different temples.

In a pluralistic society with widely varying ways and forms of worship, practices followed at Sabarimala is a case of tantric and ritualistic specificity and not discriminatory. In the hundreds of other Sree Dharma Sastha temples in India, we do not see some of the rituals and restrictions practiced specifically at the Sabarimala Swamy Ayyappa Temple. Philosophically also, the That Twam Asi concept is practiced only at Sabarimala. Here, the deity and the devotee are addressed by the same name –Ayyappan.

Another aspect of the restriction for ladies of menstrual age is the fact that their menstruation is not a voluntary act. That means, women’s desire for a progeny is biologically innate and cannot be wished away whereas men do not have that as a body-function-linked urge. At the mental level, they can decide against any sexual acts and the body obliges. In a pilgrimage where the intent is to get a taste of moksha – liberation, one must be able to give up all desires physically and mentally. Admittedly, it is difficult to give up desires mentally, but at a biological level, a male devotee can uphold his determination. A women devotee of the child-bearing age cannot do the same as it is not within her control.

In accordance with the consecrated tradition, purity of the body, as well as the mind, is required to have a Darshan of the Swamy Ayyappa at Sabarimala. Girls before the age of puberty and women past the age of menopause can have the Darshan of Swamy Ayyappa along with the men devotees. As a girl child grows to the age of maturity, she is not able to maintain the Vratham and so she must wait until after menopause to embark on the pilgrimage again. The majority of Hindu women value this Ayyappa culture and they are happy to maintain this tradition. They help and support the menfolk from their families to complete the strict Vratham during the 41 day’s Mandalam for the welfare of their family and the society at large.

Hindu women all over the world, as a matter of self-discipline,  do not enter any temple premises during their menses period. They know that any bodily fluid outside the body is considered impure in a sacred place and a devotee must enter the temple with a clean body and in a fresh attire. It is said that some psychological changes occur when a menstruating woman enters certain high energy spiritual abodes. These changes can affect them depending on the individual’s physical and mental conditions as well as the tantric rituals followed at a particular temple.  There are no known methods available to measure these esoteric incidents, but several instances of such experiences have been reported by the women devotees.

Who is Swamy Ayyappa and who is Sree Dharma Sastha anyway? What is the background with which the original Tantri ended up conceiving the deity, with its form and the associated rituals? Any action must have a preceding reason for it to occur and let us expound on the legends behind the advent of Swamy Ayyappa.