Talk:Sabarimala

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Contents 1 number of pilgrims 2 religious controversy? 3 4 Ayyappan was celebate? 5 I'm pretty sure he was 6 biased entry 7 The world's second largest annual pilgrimage, after Haj in Mecca, is reported to be to Sabarimala.

[edit] number of pilgrims

Rajeevsm (below) has a good point. There is one website (external link) that says 5 crores of people make the pilgrimage--I'd never heard the word "crore," but apparently it represents 10 million. I doubt 50 million people visit this place during the 10-day festival. Another site I visited suggested 125,000 per day. I can find no government statistics, and little on the web that offers information about Sabarimala without a strong religious slant. Hope someone more knowledgeable cleans this up.

[edit] religious controversy?

I came to this page after searching for the recent news item about (Christian) pilgrims being blinded in Erumeli from gazing at the sun, hoping to see the Virgin Mary. A Google search turned up lots of venom, or at least heated discussion, by Hindus directed at Christians. I guess some people feel Sabarimala is contested as a pilgrimage site by various religions. Not trying to start a debate, I just wondered if someone with pertinent historical/cultural knowledge could amplify this article. As it stands, it's a well-meaning but very limited entry. MaterTerribilis (talk) 16:44, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit]

In Paragraph 3, Line 1, it is said: Sabarimala is one of the finest secular places in the world where every human being irrespective of his religion can visit the temple, according to the traditional system.

In Section 'When to go', Paragraph 3, last line, it is said:

Tourists and foreigners, as well as women between the ages of 10 and 50 (approximately age at puberty and menopause), are not officially allowed entry to the main temple.

These two statements are contradictory. Sabarimala does not fall in the category of the finest secular place where every human being irrespective of his religion or race or gender can visit the temple. It even has the history of blocking people of other religious communities from entering the temple. Hence the first statement should be taken off or should be modified.

--Rocksea 04:39, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ayyappan was celebate?

In Section 'When to go', Paragraph 3, last line, it is said:

..and the fact that the Ayyappan worshipped at Sabarimala is supposed to be a celibate hermit (bachelor).

Would like to see some citations regarding this. I remember reading Ayyappan was married. If he got married and then went for celibacy, that should be mentioned.

--Rocksea 03:05, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I'm pretty sure he was

I agree with Rocksea's first comment. It is worth noting that Yesudas was prevented due to being Christian, although ironically, his rendition of Harivarasanam is played there.

As for being celibate, that's what I've always been told. Can't find any references, but have never heard that he was married either.

Are the 'How to reach Sabarimala' and 'Distances of various places from Pamba' sections really necessary in this article? The 'When to go' section needs bit of a clean up too. For instance - "wearing a unique black outfit" - I didn't do that.

And of course, add more references! (I know they're hard to find online.)

Polar 15:59, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

It appears Ayyappan has a better description of the pilgrimage. Hmm. Polar 16:01, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] biased entry

this wiki entry on sabarimala does not talk about the environmental damage created by the influx of pilgrims throughout the year. the fact is that this place is within the periyar tiger reserve, which is a fragile ecozone. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.167.232.185 (talk) 16:37, August 30, 2007 (UTC)

== YESUDAS ==

YESUDAS was never prevented from entering SABARIMALA. Infact he was prevented at Guruvayoor. Sabarimala is only one of the few secular ( as far as religions are concerned) temples in INDIA.

Awarriar 22:24, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The world's second largest annual pilgrimage, after Haj in Mecca, is reported to be to Sabarimala.

In the article its clearly written that crores of devotees come to Sabarimala during the pilgrim season. When i read the article about Hajj, its written that about 2 million pilgrims come to Mecca during the Hajj season.

My humble doubt is:

1. How crores is less than 2 million?

2. Is there any proper estimate or statistics about the number of devotees come to sabarimala each year. Or Wikipedia simply publishing their on opinion?

Rajeev madhavan (talk) 13:37, 14 January 2008 (UTC)