: With the desire to transform their lives through discipline, thousands from Odisha are getting attracted to the Ayappa cult of Kerala.
Ayappa cult had taken following in Odisha during the eighties. Few from Telugu families living in the State were devotees of this cult and its hard penance. With time, the number of Ayappa devotees has increased to thousands in the State. A noteworthy development is that now large numbers of Odias have also become Ayappa devotees. As per an estimate, this year, there may be over 10,000 Ayappa devotees from Odisha in Sabarimala, Kerala, during Makar Sankranti. More than 30 per cent of them are Odias.
For the past one week, hundreds of Ayappa devotees from Odisha, especially from different parts of south Odisha including Berhampur have started their ritualistic journey to Sabarimala. After the rituals like ‘Mandal Puja’ these devotees of lord Ayappa are taking out colourful rallies chanting mantras to honour the deity before boarding trains for Sabarimala.
As per ‘guruswami’ of Ayappa cult in Berhampur, S. Hemachandra Guruswami, every year more and more youths are becoming Ayappa devotees. It is easy to become an Ayappa devotee as there is no bar on religion, caste or ethnicity to become one.
An Odia Ayappa devotee, Ajay said the physical and mental transformation induced by this 41-day long penance is attracting more and more people towards this cult in Odisha.
Through this period of penance, many try to do away with their bad habits like smoking or drinking. The mental strength incurred through a disciplined life during this period helps them fight the stress and tension in day to day life, said Ajay.
The number of devotees who take up this penance to reduce body weight as an extra benefit is also not less. Children of Ayappa devotees have also started to take up this penance. Many parents feel this hard penance of 41 days builds the foundation for disciplined life.
