Sreelatha M

I had waited to go to Sabarimala, a hilltop shrine dedicated to Lord Ayyappa in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district. Lord Ayyappa, the deity of truth and righteousness, is described as the son of Shiva and Mohini (the female avatar of Vishnu). He was said to have been adopted by the local king of Pandalam.

Unforgettable Experiences

As a youngman, Ayyappa abdicated the crown and renounced the palace to vanish into the forests of Sabarimala to live a celibate and ascetic life. It's in deference to Ayyapa's celibacy that women are not allowed there till they turn 55.

After a 41-day mandatory fast, I joined my sister and her husband for the pilgrimage. The pilgrims wear black clothes and carry a bundle containing a couple of coconuts filled with ghee and other offerings for the deity.

We carried the bundle on our heads at the start of the four-kilometre uphill trek. We were not supposed to remove it before reaching the shrine.

At the crack of dawn, after breaking coconuts at the local shrine to ward off all obstacles, we left for the shrine.I was thrilled at the thought of visiting some of my favourite temples and shrines on the route, some of which I had only heard of but never visited.

Lord Ayyapa temple at Sabrimala

Holding our heavy bundles (kettu) on our heads, we stopped at Chottanikakara, Vaikom, and Ettumanoor shrines.

Soon we were at Erumeli. According to legend, Ayyappa defeated the demoness Mahishi (sister of Mahishasura) here. The name Erumeli is comes from Eruma-kolli—“the place where the buffalo-demon was slain.”

At Erumeli, the road streamed with pilgrims, mostly men and children, all clad in black. They had bright colours smeared on their faces, held colourful feather arrows, and danced to drum beats as part of a ceremonial dance called Petta thullal to mark the victory of the warrior Ayyappa over enemies and bandits. 

We too swayed lightly, trying to shake off our inhibition-clad egos.   

Holding arrows, wild leaves, and smeared in bright colours, we walked towards a temple there dedicated to a deity called Shastha. Shastha is an ancient protective warrior deity worshipped in Kerala even before the incarnation of Ayyappa. Ayyappa is considered a modern avatar of Sastha and is now almost synonymous with Sastha.

Vavar Juma Mosque, Erumeli

As we walked towards the temple, I was surprised. Were we at the threshold of a temple or a mosque? I saw taps for the ritual cleansing ceremony (wuzu) and a handful of Muslims saying namaz through the glass windows. It was a mosque.

We lined up respectfully outside the mosque. It was Vavar Palli (Vavar mosque), my brother-in-law explained. 

Vavar was a close associate of Ayyappa. Their friendship is celebrated in folklore and devotional movies. Vavar was a Muslim, and thus the story gets significant.

“Vavar Swami may have worshipped at the mosque. That is why he is associated with the mosque,” Nasruddin Musaliyar, who traces his lineage from Vavar, explained to me when I spoke to him a few days later.

I felt pure joy at seeing Hindus offering respect outside a mosque and making offerings before worshipping the Shastha temple. After breaking a coconut at the Shastha temple, we began our long trek towards the Ayyappa shrine on Sabarimala.

It took us four or five hours, followed by a long five-hour wait in the crowd. Anyway, we had darshan in the morning. When we came out of the temple, another surprise awaited.

The shrine dedicated to Vavar Swamy

I found myself standing outside a small shrine just outside the Ayyappa temple. It was like a dargah, but I was told that it was called Vavarpadi, or the threshold of Vavar, a memorial to Ayyappa’s friend.

Pilgrims stopped to offer prayers and accept prasad of sugar candy and pepper. The man giving the prasadam said he was a descendant of Vavar and managed his tomb. He gave me his father’s number and asked me to speak to him for details about the shrine.

Nasruddin Musaliyar said that Vavar was part of a group of Arab settlers who were close to Lord Ayyappa."This shows that the highest authority at that time accepted Vavar despite his different faith or origin,” Musaliyar said.

“Vavar Swami’s tomb and a mosque at Erumeli, where Vavar is said to have prayed, just cry out loud to us today that two faiths can co-exist and respect each other. All religions believe that there is one God. And that almighty wants to tell us that Hindus, Christians, and Muslims can co-exist in harmony,” he added.

Emotions well up as Mursliyar says that neither Ayyappa nor Vavar had asked anyone to build shrines and pray to them. These shrines represent the principle that they did not see any difference between man and man.

Author (left) with her sister and brother-in-law on the way to Sabrimala

Shrines and differences are man-made. "The Muslims don't worship at Vavars shrine as they believe only in Allah," he said.

There is no evidence that Vavar was buried there, though the royal records claim so. This shrine is symbolic, he says.

Ayyappa is believed to have renounced the throne, family, and palace to live as an ascetic in Sabarimala’s forests and merged with Sastha. He loved and honoured Vavar, expecting his devotees to do the same. In these times of religious tensions, such traditions continue thanks to a deity who rejected differences of caste and religion and loved everyone as human beings.

After darshan at Sabarimala, pilgrims feel lightheaded as they have all offered their heavy burdens at the shrine.

Perhaps they have removed something else also besides the kettu —the thought of differences itself.

ALSO READ: Five must-read articles to see Islamic edicts in correct perspective from Awaz

They go as Hindus to worship a Hindu god but return feeling more than just a Hindu…a more complete human being, who embraces all differences.