Celestial hill light sparks controversy at Sabarimala
EARLY APPEARANCE, CONFLICTING CLAIMS CLOUD PILGRIMAGE
Thiruvananthapuram Last year, more than a hundred people died i n a stampede at the Sabarimala temple when tens of thousands gathered around the hill shrine in Pathanamthitta district in Kerala to witness the “celestial light” they look forward to seeing on the auspicious Makara Jyothi day in January.
This time, just ahead of the Makara Jyothi, a controversy has arisen over the light, though it has not impacted the flow of visitors to the famed temple.
The controversy over the light that appears in the hills facing the Sabarimala temple has simmered for years, with pilgrims believing it to be a celestial light that magically appears on the concluding day of the pilgrimage, atheists pointing out that it is lit by humans, and others saying it is a star which appears in the sky.
This time, twin disputes arose after a light appeared at Ponnambalamedu on Saturday, a day before the appointed time, and police yesterday stopped an attempt by a group of people from the Mala Araya community to march to Ponnambalamedu to light the
The Mala Arayas claim it is their right to light the Makara each year, and they were on their way to do that after prayers at the Kalaketty temple when police stopped them. Police arrested them for attempting to violate a stricture preventing them from entering Ponnambalamedu.
Makara Jyothi. The Mala Arayas claim i t i s their right to light the Makara Jyothi each year, and they were on their way to do that after prayers at the Kalaketty temple when police stopped them. Police arrested them for attempting to violate a stricture preventing them from entering Ponnambalamedu. The Mala Arayas have decided they will not extinguish the lamp they lit which was to be used in lighting this year’s Makara Jyothi.
Instead, they have decided to keep the lamp burning at some temple nearby. The official position is that the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) reserves the right to light the Makara Jyothi.
The TDB president Rajagopalan Nair said yesterday that the light that appeared some two kilometres from P o n n a mba l a me d u l a s t night appeared to be some “f l uorescent l i ght”, and that it was white, typical of such lights.
He said police and forest off icials were on alert to prevent anyone from entering the Ponnambalamedu area and that the source of the light appeared to be a torch, apparently belong- ing to an off icial there. “Some people are taking the credit for this and attempting to fool the faithful, which is contemptible,” Nair said. The TDB last year submitted to the Court that the light appearing at Ponnambalamedu was man-made.
The run-up to this year’s S a b a r i mal a p i l g r i mage was also marred by the i nter- state sparring between Kerala and Tamil Nadu over the Mullaperiyar dam’s safety concerns. P i l g r i ms co ming f r o m Madurai, Theni and Cumbum in Tamil Nadu were put to considerable inconvenience as the KumilyCumbum border remained closed for several days.