Though it is a gross exaggeration to call the recent
visit of twelve Russians to Sabarimala the ultimate
capitulation of Marxism Leninism to the Indian Mythology, the event has opened
a rare and unique
travel experience to people from all over the world who seeks exotic
adventure of a different kind.
If you are not a woman under menopausal age and if you are
willing to do a spiritual
penance for 41 days, abstain from eating meat and enjoying sex in your
thoughts and life, let your hair and beard grow uncut and lead a Spartan
existence, then you can venture in to this life changing trip to Sabarimala which
more than 50 million Indians of all religions already make every year!
For the team of Russians
from Moscow led by Induchoodan, who has made this trip more than fifteen
times and who practices Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine, this
unique pilgrimage to Sabarimala has probably come to mean what it does for
millions of Indians:
A spiritual
journey riddled with mortal dangers the arduous
preparation for which require sacrifice of comforts and self purification, an
atonement which render you the strength
and support to face difficulties of everyday life, an enjoyable way to gain the
inner peace and joy only attained through
much harder practice of yoga prescribed by the Hindu religion.
Sabarimala
is a hard to reach hill amidst the lush forests of the western ghats of
Southern India, which finds its mention in the several thousand years old Indian
Epic Ramayana. It was approachable, until recently, only by arduous trekking
through thick forest and hilly terrain for fifty kilometres.
For the people of central Kerala, the annual pilgrimage to
the temple in Sabarimala dedicated to Lord
Ayyappan, an amalgam of ultimate preserving and destructive powers as per
the Hindu Mythology, had been a part of social and religious life, a communal
and harmonising influence, for several centuries. A number of celebrities and high
profile personalities who made the pilgrimage in the recent past have
spread the unique pilgrimage experience to the rest of India
Even if you are not of the physical type who enjoy trekking
in difficult terrain or are not inclined spiritually to undertake the rigours
of the pilgrimage, the Sabarimala season from November to January in Kerala
offer an abundance of opportunities related to the pilgrimage to make your trip
enjoyable in different ways.
Delving in to the legend of Lord Ayyappan and the history of
the region and the practice of worship which evolved with Buddhist and Hindu
influences, the wonderful ecology of the region, the social fabric of Kerala with
rare harmony of religions and conflicting political views can all add to your
experience.
An abundance of information of the world’s largest
pilgrimage awaits every traveller, with a quest as the ancient Chinese travellers,
who visited the region and wrote about the pilgrimage had. The Russians have just
rediscovered Sabarimala in the new millennium.
Article first Published on TECHNORATI as http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/what-makes-even-the-russians-go/