The Holy Trek

Now we come to the stage of the pilgrim’s exit from home on his way to the Hill.

The pilgrim treks through mountains and forests full of wild animals and suffers the physical strain of the walk through difficult country. On the way he consumes all that he has brought in the rear part of the Irumudi, so that by the time he reaches the shrine what remains is only the contents of the front part. Symbolically, the Prarabdha Karma and desires are extinguished or consumed on the way. What remains is only the body, that is the coconut, and the ghee, that is the soul. The pilgrim crosses the symbolic eighteen steps (overcomes the eighteen elements in him), stands face to face with the Supreme, of which he is a part, casts off the body (the coconut is opened) and merges with the Supreme (the ghee is poured on the idol of the Lord). The body dies and is consumed (the two parts of the coconut are thrown into the fire).

The Forest And Its Significance

The temple is on one of the high ranges of the Western Ghats, the Nilgiris, popularly known as the Sabari Hill. It is surrounded on all sides by the Western Ghats and by thick forests. Why has the Lord chosen such a lonely spot, the approach to which is difficult and involves the risk of being killed by wild animals? Could He not have chosen a place in the plains where all could go at ease whenever they wished? The universe is His, He could choose any place in it, but He has chosen a wild forest and calls his devotees there. What pleasure does he derive from subjecting his children to all these hardships and putting them in danger of death?

It is no pleasure to Him to see his children suffer. As the Father of all He always brings happiness to his children. Just as the physical body suffers the strain of the pilgrimage and has to face wild animals and overcome all difficulties through faith in the mercy of the Lord, so the soul in its upward journey has many obstacles to overcome by implicit faith in the mercy of the Lord and by surrendering to Him, before it can realize the Supreme. The ups and downs of the path are a very good representation of the achievements and depressions in the process of the soul’s journey. The beaten track too has its significance. If one misses the track he falls into an abyss, never to return, or into the haunts of wild animals, to be devoured by them, just as one who misses the right path falls into perdition; for the path to realization is as narrow as a razor’s edge.