How I met Swamy Ayappa

It was Sunday evening November 27th 2022, myself and my friend decided to put Ayappa maala and visit Shabarimale. So the very next day I checked with my friend who is a priest in a nearby Ayappa temple and got into 42 days maala on November 30th 2022.

So according to our plan, we have to visit Shabarimale on 11th January 2023 for Ayappa Darshan. Till that time we followed certain rules. Believe me, it's not an easy task. Every day early morning 5 AM getup, have bath in cold water, do pooja to Ayappa with 108 Sharanagosha and meditate. This time weather was very cold and water was freezing. Somehow we managed it. Only one meal a day and a light breakfast. No onion and garlic in the food. No outside food at all. No slippers, always on bare foot. Only to wear black traditional dress. No false talk or anger to be shown. Addressing people as Swamy. No watching any vulgar content on TV or mobile. Again in the evening after sunset, have coldwater bath and do Ayappa pooja with 108 Sharanagosha.

We had learnt that we had to walk from pampa to hilltop for Darshan. So everyday, we practiced walking on barefoot for nearly 5 kms. Sometimes I had to cook and wash my clothes myself. By god's grace we indeed strictly followed this until the day arrived for Shabarimale travel and Lord Ayappa Darshan. I lost around 4 kgs during this time. Good for me 😊. But one very important thing I learnt during this time is that we only need 2 meals a day and don't eat until you are hungry. We have been trapped by outside food which keeps on tingling your taste buds. I know 10 years back I would have not said this. But by my experience, believe me if you avoid outside food as much as possible you will stay healthy.

Well, coming back to Lord Ayappa Darshan, frankly speaking each moment from the day we put maala is a stepping stone to Swamy Ayappa. So, on 10th January 2023 early morning we wore irumudi and started our journey from Bengaluru to Shabarimale on my friend's new Swift car. No outside food, so we had packed some food and fruits for our journey. Also, I am not a temple run guy, so I had planned direct travel to Shabarimale, have the Darshan and come back with one stop at ISHA centre Coimbatore. Had booked a homestay with kitchen on the beautiful riverside for 10th and 11th night near Nilakkal.

Before we reached homestay, we went to Erumeli, had Dharma Shastha Darshan and then arrived at the homestay around 8 pm. We were tired, so just ate some food and slept.

Next day got up early at 3 AM. Did pooja to irumudi and travelled to Nilakkal car parking. From Nilakkal no private vehicles are allowed. So we went by government bus to Pampa. We bought the tickets and got on to a bus. The moment we got in, we saw that it was filled with foul smell since someone had thrown up inside the bus itself. We went to the back of the bus and closed our senses till we reached Pampa.

Though we had taken bath at the homestay, we took bath in the sacred river Pampa. The river bank is completely messed up and very dirty. You can see dirty clothes everywhere. Luckily, since we were very early 5 AM at Pampa, not much crowd was there. We took a dip in the river and got ready for hilltop trekking. The moment we were about to leave the river bank, one person not able to control, urinated right there on the riverbank. By this time we had a very fluent mouth saying Swamy Sharanam Ayappa and continued our trail. We checked in at Pampa using our online tickets we had booked and started our climb.

Climb is very steep at most of the points. There are frequent toilet and medical points. So you will definitely sense the smell all the way up. People will be chanting loudly as "Swamiye Sharanam Ayappa" while climbing. We too were chanting the same. Some people who had already finished Darshan and climbing down, were waving their clothes up and down against us for cool air. Some of them were distributing glucose. Felt very happy for them. I saw all sort of people who had come for the visit. Some were handicapped, some very old, some children and so on.

Finally, after 1-1/2 hour trekking, we reached the top. Climbed up the sacred 18 steps and had the swamy darshan. Now, comes the irumudi part. Since we travelled alone without guruswamy, we searched for one for sometime. At last one gentleman who was a guruswamy helped us with all the formalities with respect to irumudi. We finished all formalities, bought enough prasadam and started our journey down the mountain. It was very sunny and humid. By the time we reached Nilakkal, my foot had bubbles. I was barely able to take a single step. Luckily we got into an autorickshaw and went car parking area. Just for 500 to 800 meters we gave 100 rs. But somehow made it back to homestay. Next day travelled to ISHA centre, stayed there for a night and next day reached Bangalore safely.

Now the question, when did I saw Swamy Ayappa?

For some, they only saw Ayappa in the temple, but I saw Swamy Ayappa asking me to put maala on November 27th 2022 Sunday evening, I saw Swamy Ayappa helping me in maaladharana, I saw Swamy Ayappa practicing early morning barefoot walk, I saw Swamy Ayappa putting irumudi on my head, I saw Swamy Ayappa polluting nature in pampa, I saw Swamy Ayappa giving glucose while climbing from pampa, I saw Swamy Ayappa going in ambulance due to stroke while climbing, I saw Swamy Ayappa helping me in irumudi rituals in the temple. Swamy Ayappa gave Darshan to me on November 27th 2022 Sunday evening and is still visible till now. I wish he never goes out of sight.

Om Swamiye Sharanam Ayappa 🙏🙏🙏