Visiting temples and paying offerings is very religious and each and every Indian have been doing it irrespective of his/her cast or religion. There are hundreds of thousands of temples across the country. I too pay my offerings to Shabari Malai every year for many reasons.
I believe in the super natural power which makes this life possible on earth. We Indian’s gave an idolistic view for that immortal power. This view did help us bring all religions together for centuries now. Yes, it even helped us during freedom fighting.
Ok, let me tell you what all I have been doing till yesterday. As per my yearly calendar I was due to visit Shabarimalai in November which got postponed till December last week. On 24th, I started from Bangalore with my friends. We were all there at the Ayyappa temple near Malleshwaram to complete our rituals and prayer before starting. I couldn’t take any picture of my visit to Shabarimalai and it was not a trip for enjoyment but as my blog post says it was a “Spiritual Endeavor”. I took few pictures at various other places while coming back and I will provide you with a link at the bottom of this post.
I like visiting this temple and god Ayyappa as I get to forget all my work and duties at least for 2-3 days in a year and relax while I pray for the good of all (For those who get to hear the dialogue “God save only me” here is an another version ). It has been quite hard for me to get rid of the official work and other chores in which I indulge my self in this materialistic world. So, November or December gives me a chance to be bit spiritual. (This reminds of my pending post “Spirituality at work place” ) . We were so lucky to see the god on “Mandala pooja” in golden dressed offered by a King.
The sad thing is at spiritual places, everything has been commercialized. It’s a tourist place for the government. A key to make money to run the country and also to pay those unworthy politicians and others. There are very few spiritual and religious places which stand for people and their good will. It’s also funny to see how the priests look at you when you don’t belong to their religion (It’s easy to make out the pilgrims who visit various temples in India) . I have my own personal experiences at various temples.
For me, every one is equal on this earth. He/she must not be graded or treated based on his religion or the tags attached during the birth by parents or society. Spirituality makes one believe in the almighty the power which enlightens him or delights his mind to find his destiny. While I was reading Robin Sharma’s book “The Monk who sold his ferrari” I could make out that being simple, slef-decipline and understanding our ancient culture will enlighten us to lead our life in this materialistic life. This book is really an eye opener for all.
Our journey for the year ended yesterday with vists to Rock fort in Thirchy, where we visited the temple of Arulmigu Uchchipillaiyar, Arulmigu Thayamanasamy temple, Sri RangaM temple, and a Kali temple see various gods and rituals while we prayed for blessings by all. Well I missed the Christmas celebrations while I was on this trip. Hope some plum cake is still waiting for me some where.
Following links will help you understand more about Shabarimalai and its history:
