Narayan Ravi - Mumbai

Ayyappa

Makara Jyothi & Makara Vilakku.

Makara is the Sanskrit name for the zodiac sign of Capricorn. The Sun moves into the zodiac constellation of Capricorn on the 14th/15th of January every year. This event is considered highly auspicious & is called 'Makara Sankranti'.The Uttarayana or the 6 month period during which the Sun travels towards the North begins on this day & ends on Karka Sankranti, when the Sun transitions into the zodiac constellation of Cancer (Karka).

The Makara Jyothi is a divine celestial star worshipped by devotees & appears on the day of Makara Sankranti just at the time of Deeparadhana above the Ponnambalamedu hill. Immediately after this, the ritual of Makara Vilakku is held, wherein a fire is lit on a platform on top of Ponnambalamedu. It is this flame that is seen thrice by scores of devotees from Sabarimala & is regarded by all to be a manifestation of Lord Ayyappa Himself. The Thanthri himself has clarified that the Makara Jyothi is a divine star & the Makara Vilakku is a manually lit flame. This is the only day when the Lord is adorned with all the ornaments that Rajasekhara got crafted for His coronation as crown prince. The ornaments arrive packed in 3 heavily guarded boxes from the Panthalam Palace, stopping by at various important temples on the way for people to view & worship them, & arriving at Sabarimala just before the deeparadhana on Makara Sankranti. All along a white headed/throated eagle (known as Krishna Perunthu - the eagle of Krishna, i.e. Garuda), never seen before, flies overhead as if guarding the procession. It then circles the temple flagstaff & then disappears.

Kanthamala is a divine hill which exists in the celestial plane & cannot be seen with the naked eyes, just like Kailasa & Vaikuntha. This is believed to be the divine abode where Lord Sri Dharma Sastha resides with His consorts Poorna & Pushkala.

Ponnambalamedu, one among the 18 hills surrounding Sabarimala, is believed to be the physical counterpart of Kanthamala & the spot where Lord Parasurama initially installed the deity of Lord Ayyappa - the Aadi Moolasthanam (initial residence), in a temple of gold (Pon - Gold, Ambalam - Temple). Later the robber Udayanan & his gang destroyed and looted the temple. During this time Lord Dharma Sastha who was born as Manikantha defeated Udayanan & at the end of His incarnation instructed the king of Panthalam to reconstruct a new temple. This is the present Sabarimala temple. No traces of the golden temple exist now. It is the holiest of holy spots & is not something whose divinity anyone would dare to test. So very few devotees venture to go there.

May Kanthamala Jyothi - the eternal light of Kanthamala, bless one and all.

Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa