Author: P K Surendran
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 7, 2006
The guardians of celibate Lord Ayyappa's exclusivist
Sabarimala shrine have so far turned a deaf ear on a chorus of demands from
women devotees to let them in. In complete contrast, just across the narrow
breadth of southern Kerala is the Chakkulathu Kavu temple, where women are
worshipped.
Located 9 km from Thiruvalla town and about
a 100 km from Sabarimala, the shrine is dedicated to the deity of Bhagavati
and follows an annual ritual called 'Naari Puja'. On the first Friday of Dhanu
(December), the male priests wash the feet of women devotees who have fasted
for 10 days. The tradition takes root in the belief that women visiting on
the day are the incarnation of Chakkulathu Amma (goddess). They are showered
with flowers, sprinkled with perfume and welcomed with an aarti, like a goddess.
The temple is over 3,000 years old and the
tradition of worshipping women has been passed on over the ages. Of the three
lakh or so devotees coming here annually for darshan, 75 % are estimated to
be women. Such is the reverence towards women that during Pongal, a festival
that lasts 12 days and held in December, the temple becomes the exclusive
domain of women. They prepare an offering for the goddess using a traditional
recipe on a makeshift firewood furnace. In a complete turnaround from Sabarimala,
men do not participate in this tradition.
Every Friday, female devotees bring relatives
who are addicted to alcohol, drugs or gambling. The addicts, who are mostly
male, are asked to touch the Devi's sword and pledge to renounce their habit.
Locals claim many success stories in which even hardcore addicts have turned
a leaf. "My younger brother was an alcoholic for years. I brought him
here three years ago and made him swear by the Devi. He has renounced his
drinking habit now," said a visiting woman devotee.
