THE SAGE SABARI
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The sage Sabari
           She was the daughter of Shyamana Maharishi and was driven  away by her mercurial, sage-husband for accidentally and innocently looking up at another man (which in those days was strictly forbidden). She sought asylum at the Matanga ashram. She learns from her guru,the sage Matanga that Lord Rama and Letchumanan would pass the ashram in search of Sita who was kidnapped by Ravana. She awaits Lord Rama and Letchumanan gathering the choicest fruits for them and eventually gets to meet them here. In remembrance of  her steadfastness, resoluteness and faith Lord Ayappan ordained that the entire place be named Sabarimala. Hence, today this place still retains this name.
          Upon the completion of the Appachimedu, a devotee shall not miss the Sabari peedam constructed to commemorate this divine personality. As a mark of respect, devotees do pay homage here before continuing with the pilgrimage. Contemplate upon the resoluteness and faith of this great sage, spending all the long nights amidst wild animals and cold weather simply seeking nourishment from the thought of sighting Sri Raman. Can you exercise this kind of faith today ?
To realize the Truth,  Sabari's fortitude and faith are essential, not just the mouthing of mere mantras and prayers.

Sadhana, sadhaka and siddhi

         Swami Ayappan worship, just like any other worship is geared towards the realization of the Truth - that everything around us and we ourselves are governed by some unseen principle of power. A power - infinitely greater than anything that we have seen or heard and can ever conceive. All the elements of nature are the creation of this Supreme power. The whereabouts of this power if we seek externally cannot ever be conceived and construed. In Hinduism, we seek this power by delving within us-for it is our contention and time-tested truth that we have that touch of power within us , just like any other living thing around us. Simply put, it is that power that physically makes our hearts tick. Can any man-create a battery that can  replicate the immensity and power of this God-made battery? Where did the consciousness in us come from? While, we are asleep we loose touch with the external world, yet that consciousness is there isn't it? When a child is born that consciousness is already there. We don't inject that through the needles and syringes, as we do we  in  immunizations ? That is what the Vedas call Prajunyanam Brahma (our very Consciousness is God). Other revelations in the Vedas are Aham Brahmasmi (This is not You), Tat Tvam Asi (Thou Art that) and Ayamatma Brahma (Our Atma is the ParaBrahman). These are repeated over and over again in books and great sages who have realized these great truths through self-experimentation have also imparted the same to the masses. A few have benefited but many are still struggling in the ocean of samsara.
         An Ayappan devotee is a sadhaka(seeker of truth), the fasts etc are sadhanas(means of seeking the truth) and the Gurusami a siddhi (a person who has realized the Truth).Sabarimala yatra is the test-bed to realize this immutable and fundamental truth. Otherwise, one's life remains as  nothing but "a big bag filled with much sorrow, a little laughter and bottomless hollowness." There is much more to living then just acquisition of wealth and sense-enjoyment. See the soul within you and make every Sabarimala yatra with that in mind. Cultivate sama-darsana (equal vision) and sama-sveekarana (uniform acceptance) - that is why every other Ayappan during the fast is addressed as Ayappan. Everything about you is an Ayappan. Aspire towards attaining this state of mind. Control the mind that is constantly  conniving to outplay the true you .
           The Great Narayana Guru's teachings are the same too :

                                                                "One race, one religion, one God."

When this great soul established the first Sivan temple in Aruvippuram in Kerala, breaking down the citadels of orthodoxy and caste, he inscribed on the temple wall the following message :

"This is the model abode
Where all men live in brotherhood
Without any caste distinction
Or religious animosities."

         The Sabarimala Ayappan worship also hovers around the same very truth that Narayana Guru expounded. The funeral fire and the fauna beneath the soil are not going to give you privileged treatment because of your status and standing in earthly life. Eventually you are reduced to a handful of ash and a photograph of you may hang for some time in a remote  corner of your home, signifying you once existed. The real "you"  marches on for several, infinite lives.

Thiruavarnam and the Garuda pachi (bird)

             The royal regalia and the clothes (thiruavarnam) are from the Pantala Maharaja's palace where Manikandan once lived. These are very expensive items and are heavily guarded and revered. The huge eagle (it escorts the regalia and entourage bearing the same, unfailingly each year ), symbolically the vahana (chariot) of Lord Vishnu, is actually a sage who unfailingly takes the form a bird and hails from Kassi up north to pay homage and respect to Swami Ayappan annually. This fact is seldom found in the books. The thiruavarnam (collection of Ayappan's regalia and clothes) by itself is the significant testimony of His presence at Pantalam several years ago. The present residents and lineage  of the Pantalam palace still hold on to the belief that He visits them in the form of Ayappan devotees each year.

Bhakti (or Love) 
               The word Bhakti (or love) is derived from the word Bhaj, meaning "to adore, to love and to keep companionship with". There are different levels of love, denoting the varied degrees of affinity to the Supreme Consciousness( or God). These are as follows:

a). Conventional religion (sadharana bhakti) - here there is mere conformity with the accepted beliefs and observances of a religious community , without any inner spiritual urge or dynamism..

b). Sraddha (faith) - when truths of religions like God, soul and the hereafter are taken seriously and the need for some set of practices to intensify one's spiritual perception is felt. Usually a personal calamity or the stumbling upon a holy man brings about this conversion and upliftment. Only through devotional disciplines can the love for God be sustained. Without the same the mind relapses to one's worldly preoccupations.

c). Rati - here the mind develops a natural proneness to God because of the inward joy this contemplation gives. There is a natural joyfulness and continuous attraction for Him.

The Rati stage is further subdivided into:

 i). Jnana Bhakti
 There is an intellectual kind of love for God i.e mergence with the Absolute as the goal. Here  bhakti is the means and the end is Moksha (liberation from embodiment).

 ii). Priti Bhakti
Intense personal love of the all-perfect Divine person eg God is looked upon in any of the forms of living personal relationship as mother, master, child, friend, husband or lover ( eg the gopikas at Vrindavan for Krishna). It is said that only at this stage that Krishna (or God) reveals His Ananda (blissful) nature to His followers. He even subordinates to His devotees:

"......Being fond of my devotees, my heart is under their sway. I do not value myself or even Sri
  who is ever associated with me, as I do these holy men who have accepted Me as their Supreme
  goal............" (Bhagavatam.pp.4.63-68)

               At the Sradhha stage (which is considered the first stage), the devotion has to be roused up and sustained by deliberately cultivated disciplines or sadhanas. These are collectively called Bhagavata Dharma and are as below:
a). Sravanam (hearing narrations of His glorious deeds).
b). Kirtanam (chanting and reciting His name).
c). Smaranam (remembering Him continuously).
d). Padasevanam (serving Him).
e). Archanam (worshipping Him).
f). Vandanam (paying obeisance to Him).
g). Dasyam (practising the role of a servant to Him).
h). Sakhyam (looking upon Him as an intimate friend).
i).  Atmanivedanam (surrendering oneself totally to Him).
     During the Ayappan swami fast and the yatra the above sadhanas , either jointly or severally, are practised to realise Him in oneself and in all other beings.

Bhakti - a gradual metamorphosis from the concrete to the abstract realms
                In the Bhagavata (Bh.11,2,45-47), the various realms of Bhakti have been clearly delineated as thus:
           " The perfect Bhagavata or devotee of the Lord (Bhagavatottam) is one who sees glory of the Bhagavan, the inmost Self, reflected in all beings and all beings as dwelling in Him, their inmost Self. A mediocre Bhagavata is one who entertains an attitude of adoring love towards God, of friendliness to His devotees, of kindliness and sympathy to common people and of indifference to one's enemies and bad people. And he is of the inferior type of  Bhagavata who performs worship of God in images with faith and devotion, but is totally indifferent to devotees of God and other beings ( on account of his incapacity to see the Divinity dwelling in all beings)."

              In teaching theory,  one advances from the concrete to abstract ideas to facilitate comprehension. Is it the norm to teach a child about the attributes of a potato without ever showing the child a potato or at least an image of it ? What is the point of talking about the theory of time - dilation in Physics to students if they do not know how to read time and recognize its relative nature ? The idols and images are condensed essence of the Divine. It is not just praying to the idol per se but while praying to it outwardly, inwardly we reflect upon the infinite quality of God Himself and the teachings of the respective avatars ( incarnates). Remember, God pre-existed all things and lives we see before us today. The earliest of men have described God in the only way they knew best and in ways which are unacceptable and inferior to our present means of communication and knowledge. Let the ways and means differ but the only immutable constant is that Infinite power controlling the entire universe and its momentum. Swamiye Saranam..

SRI HANUMAN
Rama! Rama ! Rama !
The benchmark of a true devotee.
Each Ayappan devotee should strive to remain subdued and focused as Him.

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--Swamiye Saranam Ayappa   Swamiye Saranam Ayappa--