Ayyappan is a Hindu deity that is worshiped in a number of shrines across India. Ayyappan is believed to be an incarnation of Dharma Sasta, who is the offspring of Shiva and Vishnu. There is more about this here.
We were lucky enough to witness the pilgrimage ceremony over the course of a day......
The ceremony would take place at this house and preparations began early in the morning.
Great vats of boiled rice to feed everyone were prepared in the morning.
As ever the Keralan people wanted to be photographed and relished telling us all about themselves and their families.
By nightfall a small shrine had been built from bamboo and coconut leaves. The young men to the left are the thirteen pilgrims who will undertake a three day and night trek to Sabarimala in the hills of Pathanamathitta.
The man leading the proceedings brought round a flaming bowl and everyone scooped the smoke with both hands and inhaled. There followed a long part of the ceremony where he tied a bandana around the head of each of the pilgrims, then a thin material belt around his waist and then a bag of coconuts is placed on his head, a cloth on top of that. His hand then reaches up to secure this load. A final round of blessings takes place, all the while the ladies of the village are whooping and shrieking ( think the typical 'red indian' battle cry ) and then in a great flourish each pilgrim smashes a coconut on a central rock spraying milk and splintered shell. All onlookers either catch or pick off the ground these remnants and devour the flesh. Through the smoke and people the holy man approaches me at a pace, a large black blade in one hand and something round and dark in the other, his eyes bloodshot from the efforts of his incantations and hours of standing in smoke. My immediate fear is that we have offended him somehow. He stops in front of me and and lifts his machete, uncurls his other hand and delicately slices a piece of something mottled and brown. The steel is now right in front of my mouth. He gestures for me to take it, his eyes softening now. It is a piece of sweet molasses or palm sugar. A delicious soft crumbly treat. ( I have since found out that this is jaggery )
And then everyone else came to us with different offerings, some rice wrapped in banana leaf, more coconut, babies and young children were hoisted aloft for us to scrutinize and pass praise. The holy man and his second were drawing heavily on cigarettes now, their work done.
The pilgrims by now have started on their trek and the crowd have very quickly dispersed. Some mothers or other female relatives have followed this thirteen, still sending calls of encouragement into the night. The holy man came to me once again grinning this time and wiped his thumb across my forehead leaving a streak of ash. We ambled off feeling quite humbled at being allowed such closeness to this primal event and the warmth and pride of these lovely people.
Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa!
'Oh Ayyappa I seek refuge in you!'
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