Sabarimala: On Lighting The Makaradeepam

There were News reports that the ‘Malayaraya’ people or the the tribal people numbering around fifty thousand living in the hills surrounding the famous Sabarimala temple have threatened to convert to Christianity unless their right to light the Makara Vilakku at “Ponnambalamedu” is restored to them. It is a novel kind of threat unheard of before.

 Last year the Government prevented them from lighting the lamp and it was lit by the forest and police officials. In fact the tribal people stopped lighting Makara deepam decades back when they were evicted from that region for the Sabarigiri Hydel project work.


  The  Makara Samkramam occurs usually on January 14th.after sun set. In addition to the Makara deepam an unusually bright star, called 'Makara Jyothi', is also visible in the sky. As for the Makara deepam, the devotees of Sabarimala temple never gave much importance as to by whom or how  the light appears at the eastern mountain ranges and they implicitly believed it a celestial light signifying the blessings of Lord Ayyappa and neither the Travancore Deveswom Board  nor the Government tried to explain the phenomena.

Later the Government had to reveal it when the Kerala High court took it up on a Public interest litigation. The Government admitted that the light was man-made. Curiously, it was the non-believers who got agitated over the revelation and they asked whether the Government should become a party to hoodwink the devotees.

 The true believers of Lord Ayyappa ignored it all and they continued to wait anxiously for the light to appear in the mountains and prayed loud when it appeared thrice. In the devotees’ mind the light remained celestial.


The light appears in an eastern side mountain at a spot called Ponnambalamedu where the Lord is believed to be sitting in deep Samadhi or meditation, No devotee visits the temple there as it is in the midst of thick forest and also there are Government restrictions to enter the region. Since the Lord is in meditation the Santhi or peace of the atmosphere should not be broken by the meddling of devotees and as such the temple there is not for devotees’ worship.

  The Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala hills gives blessings to the devotees and at other times the Lord is in the perception of  hunting in the surrounding forests.

There are temples for various stages of Lord Ayyappa's incarnation. At the 'Kulathupuzha' temple the Lord is 'Balaka' or child. The temple is situated in Kollam District, 62 KMs away from Thiruvananthapuram.

At the Aryankavu temple in Kollam District the deity is in the form of 'Brhmachari' or in adolescent stage. The 'Grahasthasramam' temple is  at Achankovil  in Kollam District where the deity is accompanied by two consorts named Poorna and Pushkara. At Sabarimala temple the lord is in the form of 'Vanaprastha' and at Ponnambalamedu  as a perfect Yogi away from all worldly things. The Ayyappa temple at Pandalam  is also famous in that it is linked with the early years of Lord's incarnation.

 There are many stories related to the basis of lighting the lamp on Sankrama Sandhya. One story is the Tribal people’s expression of happiness at the killing of Mahishasura and another one says it is the consecration day of the temple. Any way the custom was part of the history of the temple and it was there long before the forest officials and electricity men came in to being. Obviously the light was then lit by the tribal people which reinforces their claim to light the lamp.


 But the tribal people failed to claim their right when they were evicted by the Government. It was a default on their part. After they were got evicted the question of lighting Makaradeepam  obviously come up for discussion and someone in the Government must have suggested the officers on duty there to do that. That was how the Government officers came in the picture.


Although the tribal people failed to adhere to their duties, now that they have come forward to do the duty, the Government should relent and allow them to do their traditional prayers and lighting of the lamp on the Sankranthi day at Ponnambalamedu. The Government employees are anyway not supposed to do such duties.

 The temples in Kerala are full of such customs and traditions and the  respective administrations allow and  go along with them. In this particular case the Deveswom Minister seems to be in a mood to oppose the tribal people’s wishes. The Minister has to do some rethinking in the matter.
The present stand of the Minster is not simply justifiable.

The Mala Arya community could have avoided their " conversion threat" as it only shows their spiritual bankruptcy and lack of religious commitment.



Latest :This year's Makaravilaku went off well without any problems and Makaradeepam was seen to the millions of devotees who assembled nearthe temple.. It seems the Malaaraya people did not press further in the matter.


Images : Google