Shabari Mala Temple in Kerala

Shabari Mala is a hill station in Pathanumthitta disctrict of Kerala. This was dense forest, years ago. Millions of devotees from all over Kerala and from other states visit this temple during Winter. Unlike other temples, only male devotees are allowed(with exeption of old aged weman). This temple is managed and controlled by goverment of Kerala. If you want to know more about this temple, please google it. I don't know any other temple that imposes strict restriction on the devotee for an extended period of 40 days before visisting the temple.
Annual revenue is about $25 million. This is good as far as the goverment is concerned. The below is taken from the official website.
abarimala- Pilgrimage Regulations

Sabarimala pilgrims have to observe several austerities and regulations to undertake the pilgrimage.

The vritham can be undertaken only after getting permission from one's parents and Guru. It should be undertaken in such a manner as to cause no inconvenience to one's family.

The day before the vritham begins one has to offer prayers to ones' family deity and present a yellow cloth with coins within to the family deity.

The devotee must shave, clip his nails, trim his hair and bathe before the vritham. The holy garland should be cleaned and smeared with sandal paste and placed before the portrait of Lord Ayyappa. The devotee should also buy a new pair of coloured dhoti and towel or shawl.

On the day of the vritham the devotee rises early, bathes, prays to the family deity and performs a pooja to the holy mala. He will be accompanied to the temple by his Guru and recieve his mala from him.

Wearing the mala denotes that the devotee becomes Lord Ayyappa and must thus lead a pious life.

The devotee must keep away from all social activities and spend his time praying and singing bhajans and in worthy causes like visiting temples, cleaning temples, feeding the poor, helping the poor and sick and attending religious discourses.

He must eat only vegetarian food and abstain from meat, physical or verbal violence, alcohol and tobacco and intoxicants in any form. The devotee must sleep on the floor, use a wooden block for a pillow and walk
barefeet.

The devotee is obligated to treat all co-devotees as Lord Ayyappan and serve them in every way. He must be humble despite the respect and privileges accorded to him as a Sabarimala pilgrim.

The devotee must treat all women like his mother and strictly follow celibacy. He must not oil his body or his hair and must always carry a tulsi leaf with him to keep away evil thoughts

Now you should have got some idea, how Shabari is different from other Hindu temples.
These are some of the observations about this temple.

1. All other Hindu devotess uses white or safron colour. But Shabari Mala devotee(swamy) wears black colour Mundu.
   
2. During my childhood(eighties), I have seen Swamies chanting Budham Sharanum Gachaami.
   
3. I have seen Auto rikshas with the slogan at the back "Budham Sharanum Gachaami".
4. The austerities followed by the Iyyappa devotees are similar to the vows, known as ashta-shilas, taken by Buddhists
5. The Iyyappa temple in Sabarimala was built by a Pandalam king. The Pandalam dynsasty is an offshoot of the Pandya dynasty of Tamil Nadu. And the Pandalam king who built the Iyyappa temple was not a Hindu. He was a Buddhist.
6. (They) never bother to think how Iyyappa who is supposed to be the son of Shiva and Vishnu, could have possibly met got help from a Muslim who lived just a few hundred years ago.
7. The pilgrims’ chant of ‘Swamiye Saranam Iyyappa’ is similar to the Buddhist chant of ‘Buddham Saranam Gachhaami’. In no other Hindu temple is the word ‘Saranam’ used in a chant.
8. The Makara Jyoti which appears mysteriously in the Sabarimala forests on the Makara Sankranti day gave it the name Potalaka. The surprise: The Dalai Lama’s palace in Lhasa is called - Potala!
9. Hsuen Tsang refers to Avalokitesvara* on the Potala in the following words, summarised by Waters (1905): “In the south of the country near the sea was the Mo-lo-ya (Malaya) mountain, with its lofty cliffs and ridges and deep valleys and gullies, on which were sandal, camphor and other trees. To the east of this was Pu-ta-lo-ka (Potalaka) mountain with steep narrow paths over its cliffs and gorges in irregular confusion…”
10. Iyyappa is also known as Dharma Sasta, and “Shastha” is mentioned elsewhere as a name for the Buddha.
11. Iyyappa has the vajradanda, a crooked stick in his right arm. The vajra is a characteristic weapon of Bodhisattva.
12. Theeyas of North Kerala wears back colour Mundu when they take part in some rituals within their temple. Is this pointing to a relationship between Budish and Theeyas of North Kerala?

The finally, if I mention that Shabari Mala is not a Hindu temple, probably I will get nice reply and if I am unlucky I will get physical abuse as well!
But as long as Hindu fundamantalist groups like BJP, RSS keep away from our temples, they will continue to be the places of worship and peace.

The dilemma of returning back to home

I just created a blog for me. I called it - Kishor's blog.

Returning back to home? This is a very popular question among thousands of ex-repatriates all over the world. How long you live and work outside your home land? Some say that as long as life goes smoothly I will stay here.
I will go back when time comes! Others like myself who always thinking oh..I will work here for a 2-3 years and then go back. Why can't you go back now? Not yet! I am going home every year ans spend time with family at least once a year.
One of my relatives back in India asked me - what you want to do here? Here everybody is looking to go abroad, why you want to do the opposite? Do you want to be a retired fellow in your thirties?? No way, I said.
But my father always said - You may go abroad and make some money and come back. There is no precise meaning for the phrase make some money! I remember the day I left home for work to Bombay. That was a winter in 1995. I had moved from Kerala to Bombay only to find a reasonable job. I did found one within a week. But I did not like the life in Bombay. I went back home after working there for 8 months. I knew what it is like when you go back home after leaving the job.
"Oh, Have you come back?"
"When are you planning to go back to Bombay"?
No. I said - I am going abroad. The guy kept quiet.
Now this is 2007. My situation is totally different. I have a reasonable job in a western country. That too in a big bank.
Probably I will go back in 2010 when my son is ready to start his school. Who cares? But Life is life , its problems are not dependent on geographical location I guess.
Why Kerala attracts me like a magnet? Is it so beautiful or is it that I just love my home? I have no idea. You can't replace home! Most of my college friends are working outside Kerala, some of them abroad like me. I need to start a new life again, which is more difficult to continue life here. At the moment, let me see what happens and when time comes I will have to think and decide. Tomorrow, Monday back to to work again!

Kishor.