01Forty-one days, eighteen steps
The vrata begins when a guru places the mala of tulsi or rudraksha beads round the devotee’s neck. For forty-one days he keeps brahmacharya, eats simple food, wears black or blue, sleeps on the floor and goes barefoot. On the day he sets out he carries the irumudi on his head, a two-part cloth bundle with a ghee-filled coconut for the Lord and provisions for the road. Only those carrying the irumudi may climb the Pathinettampadi, the eighteen steps to the sanctum. The ghee is poured over Ayyappa in abhishekam and the empty coconut thrown into the great fire below.
02Pandalam, fire and the courts
The katha makes Ayyappa the foster son of the raja of Pandalam, who found the infant by the Pampa river, and the Pandalam palace still keeps his ornaments, the Thiruvabharanam. They are carried to the hill in procession for Makaravilakku in mid-January, when the light appears on Ponnambalamedu. In 1950 the shrine was set on fire and the old murti damaged; a new panchaloha murti was consecrated in 1951. In 1991 the Kerala High Court upheld the custom that women aged 10 to 50 do not make the pilgrimage. The Supreme Court set that aside on 28 September 2018; review petitions were referred to a larger bench in November 2019.
The life of this place
- 1950The shrine is burnt and the murti damaged.
- 1951A new panchaloha murti is consecrated.
- 1991Kerala High Court upholds the age custom for women pilgrims.
- 28 September 2018Supreme Court strikes down the age rule; the review is later referred to a larger bench (2019).
Open for Mandala–Makaravilakku (mid-November to mid-January) and the first days of each Malayalam month. The walk from Pamba to Sannidhanam is about 5 km uphill.
