ENVIRONMENT

The journey is the destination

IAN LOCKWOOD

On a trek to the Sabarimala temple as an observer intent on discovering the

natural history, personalities and emotions of the pilgrim's path.

PILGRIMS NEGOTIATE ENORMOUS buttress-roots of the red silk cotton

tree on the path connecting Erumeli to Pamba en route to Sabarimala.

THE Sabarimala temple in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala has long been revered
as a sacred location and has been drawing increasing numbers of pilgrims year
after year. The temple is dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, a deity closely associated with
forest lore. Riding a handsome tiger, the youthful Ayyappa is revered as a protector
of the forest. What could be more appropriate for a shrine located in one of India's
27 Project Tiger reserves? The temple is situated in dense, evergreen and moist-
deciduous forests in the south-western corner of the 777-square-kilometre Periyar
Tiger Reserve (PTR).

For generations of devotees a pilgrimage to the Sabarimala temple is a sacred

journey into the heart of an untarnished area. Human wants are forsaken and
pilgrims are treated equally irrespective of caste or creed. In days past, the temple
was indeed very isolated and such a pilgrimage was no minor undertaking. Today
much has changed, with new roads and increased communication. The temple has
become immensely popular in south India and the number of pilgrims during the
short three-month season is estimated to be about five million.

Sabarimala lies in the heart of some of the most expansive rainforests in the
Western Ghats and it was for this reason that I set out to walk the path of an
Ayyappa pilgrim. For many years I had watched pilgrims walking barefoot on the
hot roads of the south Indian plains on their way to Sabarimala. Clad in black lungis

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and carrying little more than a simple bag each, they travelled in small groups led
by a guru.

PILGRIMS RETURNING FROM Sabarimala climbing the steep path to

Uppupara. In the background is the temple complex nestling among the
forests of the Periyar Tiger Reserve.

My interest in observing the fusion of culture and natural history in the Western
Ghats and good fortune finally led me down the Sabarimala trail. I went with
cameras and a notebook and was not, strictly speaking, a pilgrim. I was rather a
curious observer intent on discovering and recording the natural history,
personalities and emotions of the pilgrim's path.

Surely the biggest challenge posed by the Sabarimala shrine is the tricky balance of
preserving cultural heritage and pilgrimage traditions within a fragile natural habitat
and sensitive ecological zone in one of India's two biodiversity hotspots. The job is
not an easy one for the Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department officers. However, in
the past decade several innovative ideas have emerged from the Periyar Tiger
Reserve and these have been acknowledged as a remarkable conservation success
story ("Vision From Periyar" by Ashish Kothari and Sujatha Padmanabhan, The
Hindu, February 15, 2004).

The achievement of involving local communities in conservation measures through

`eco-development' is now well documented in the `Thekkady model'. The efforts to
manage pilgrim flow through the forest to Sabarimala were of particular interest to
me as I set out on my walk from Thekkady.

To the sanctuary

My journey to Sabarimala started in the early hours of a winter morning at the

Kumily bus station near the headquarters of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. My initial
destination was Uppupara, the elevated roadhead leading to Sabarimala from the
east via Vandiperiyar. It was still dark when I boarded one of the tomato-red State

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transport buses that services Uppupara during the pilgrimage season. It was
moderately full with shopkeepers and several pilgrim groups.

The bus crossed over the Periyar river and then headed into the heart of the tiger
reserve's western borders. Here there are expansive grasslands intermixed with
neglected eucalyptus plantations and patches of evergreen rainforest. Uppupara is
little more than a line of shacks along with a forest checkpost, set amongst
stunning grasslands. It was bustling with activity as shopkeepers geared up for the
groups of pilgrims going to or returning from the temple, about half a day's trek
away.

I stayed overnight at Uppupara since I wanted to enjoy a full day's time to descend
slowly to Sabarimala. I was interested in meeting and photographing groups of
pilgrims and the unique grasslands landscape. I was also on the lookout for the rare
broad tailed grassbird (Schoenicola platyura), an endemic Western Ghats species
that is found in such mid-altitudinal grasslands. In the end I had more luck with the
pilgrims than the grassbird and was also rewarded with the sighting of a very shy
sambar stag on an adjoining hill. At night the temperature fell and I was happy to
have shelter at the forest department checkpost.

The next morning I walked leisurely down to the temple, through grasslands and
then dense forests of mixed evergreen and moist deciduous vegetation. The
morning was gloriously clear. At the edge of the upper plateau I had a commanding
view of the temple and the adjoining valleys of forest. Numerous groups were
making their way down the path and soon we were met by a steady stream of
pilgrims on their way to Uppupara.

Periyar Tiger Reserve officers and guards chat with pilgrims in the forests
between Erumeli and Pamba.

Pilgrims going towards the temple carried the conspicuous irumudi offerings on
their heads. Chants of "Swamiye Ayyappa" mixed in with the mournful call of a pair
of crested serpent eagles (Spilornis cheela) circling above. The path entered the

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forest edge abruptly and I was happy to have the shade on this very bright day.
Terminalia species and other large trees cast deep shadows over the broad pilgrim's
path. Bright coloured scarlet minivets (Pericrocotus flammeus) flittered in the high
canopy, unmindful of the many humans moving like large ants on the path.

Sprinkled along the path are a string of shops for pilgrims, facilitated by the Kerala
Forests and Wildlife Department and run by "eco-development committees" (EDCs).
This involvement of local communities as stakeholders in conservation has been one
of the most successful aspects of the Thekkady model. The EDCs have been
involved in activities such as guided nature walks near the visitor centre at the
Periyar lake. Reformed poachers and arrack brewers have been incorporated into
the EDCs to lead adventurous treks to the heart of the reserve. In all of these
models the EDCs have directly benefited from conservation-based tourism. A
dividend has been the far decreased incidence of poaching and illegal wood-cutting.

Historically, the shops on the Sabarimala path were tightly controlled by the temple
authorities (Travancore Devaswom Board). Shopkeepers had to pay large fees to
run their operations and making a meagre profit was difficult. This often meant
illegally cutting firewood from the forest or leaving behind large quantities of waste.
Their interest was in recovering the fee.

At an EDC eatery at Uppupara, a poster depicting Ayappa astride a tiger,

one of the most popular depictions of the deity.

The eco-development scheme treats the EDCs as stakeholders who are key players
in protecting the fragile forest habitats. Firstly, their members are drawn directly
from villages surrounding the Periyar forests. They include several groups of
Adivasis who lost ancestral land when the Mullaperiyar dam (1895) and later the
tiger reserve (1978) were established. Secondly, the EDCs do not pay any annual or
seasonal rent for the privilege of setting up their shops. They are, however,
expected to be guardians of the forest and to use sustainable resources for energy.
They help keep their path areas clean and use forest department-supplied rubber
trees for fuel rather than the natural forest biomass.

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I stopped at several EDCs on my way down to the temple. Mainly I quenched my
thirst with large glasses of buttermilk, but there were hot meals being served as
well. At one stop I gazed at the steady stream of devotees as several noisy Malabar
grey hornbills (Anthracoceros coronatus) cackled in the tree above the shop.

THE FINAL WAIT before entering the temple.

The pilgrim groups were mainly composed of men, since women between 10 and 50
years of age are not allowed into the temple. Many family groups had brought along
young girls, and there were older women on the pilgrim path. As the path
approached the temple the sounds of drums and chants drifted up through the
forest. At certain points there were small breaks that allowed a glimpse of the
temple with its gleaming gilded roof set amongst a concrete island of buildings and
a few lonely trees.

About a kilometre from the temple the forest abruptly gives way to a clearing. The
temple complex is quite vast given that it sits amongst remnant rainforests. A few
tall silk cotton trees (Bombax ceiba) stand sentinel over the arrays of shelters built
for pilgrims on the outskirts of the temple. During the pilgrimage season the
magnified sounds of the temple and pilgrims drown out the calls of the forest. The
scent of burning coconut envelopes the area and it is hard to imagine that you are
actually in a tiger reserve.

I spent a night at Sabarimala and explored the different approaches to the temple.
Photography is strictly prohibited in the temple premises and I focussed my
energies on the pathway. A steady stream of devotees wound its way up from
Pamba and down from Uppupara to the central temple through the night. The
climax came as they waited in long queues and then climbed up the final 18 steps
to the temple.

Pilgrim's path

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My pilgrimage led me away from the temple, to the base at Pamba and then
through the lower forests to the entry point at Erumeli. The Pamba area illustrates
some of the very serious challenges faced by such a large-scale pilgrimage in
sensitive areas. Here parking lots of jeeps, buses and camped pilgrim groups crowd
the spaces below large buttressed rainforest trees. Masses of people mill around
during the season and an army of policemen are employed to help things run
efficiently.

The Pampa river suffers from severe contamination below the sacred bathing spot
at the Pamba crossing. In the nearby forests the strain of such numbers on the
fragile forest habitat is telling. Most of the large animals migrate out of the temple
forest areas during the December to February season. Newspaper articles report
plastic waste showing up in elephant faeces. In recent years there have been calls
to improve further the road access to Sabarimala. There has even been a proposal
to put in a rail line. The Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department is under pressure to
denotify parts of the tiger reserve as well as the adjoining reserve forests to
facilitate more pilgrims.

PARKING LOT AT Pamba, the focal point of all motor transport taking
pilgrims. Large forested areas have been partially cleared to provide space
for vehicles.

On the path leading out from the temple I followed the Pamba river to Erumeli with
S. Sivadas, then the senior tiger reserve officer in charge of managing the EDCs
and other initiatives. Sivadas is not an ordinary forest officer. With a generous
beard and a contemplative look he could easily be mistaken for a sanyasi in khaki
uniform. He speaks with his staff and the EDC members in an empathetic yet
deliberate manner. He is as comfortable discussing J. Krishnamurti's take on nature
as he is gleaning insight from Edward O. Wilson or other modern biodiversity
apostles.

He represents the high commitment, sincere interest and outright passion that is
exhibited by a generation of officers in the Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department.

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I had first met him in a lonely bungalow on the edge of the Eravikulam National
Park when he was the assistant wildlife warden there in the early 1990s. Now,
nearly 10 years later, I am tagging along as he makes his rounds on foot in the
sacred forests of Lord Ayyappa.

The 17-kilometre hike to Erumeli from Pamba leads through impressive tropical
rainforest. Gigantic trees with canopies nearly 50 metres high tower over the river
and path. There are signs of degradation on the edges of the pathway but this is
the best-preserved forest that I have seen on the trek. A troop of Nilgiri langurs
(Semnopithecus johnii) and a lone Malabar giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) are feeding
on fruit and leaves high above us. I am on the lookout for great pied hornbills
(Buceros bicornis) and happy to encounter a feeding flock of birds with babblers,
drongos, trogons, sunbirds and treepies.

IN THE TWILIGHT, a lone pilgrim returns from the temple and in the
backdrop are the grasslands and gentle hills of the Periyar Tiger Reserve.

We moved quite fast since Sivadas wanted to survey as many EDCs as possible and
see how they were progressing in their preparations for the flow of pilgrims on the
climactic Makaravilakku puja. I followed in his footsteps, pausing only briefly to
photograph pilgrims and trees. Between stops we discussed the challenges of
balancing conservation with religious traditions and the large numbers of pilgrims.
Despite the pressure on the Forest Department to release more land for the temple,
Sivadas remained cautiously optimistic that this tricky balance could be achieved
through the use of community-based conservation models.

My pilgrimage came to an end at Erumeli, a curious settlement where Ayyappa

devotees visit a Muslim shrine of Vavar Swamy on their way to Sabarimala. This
fusion of religious ideas seemed to be emblematic of the very positive spirit of the
Sabarimala pilgrimage. Balancing these ideals with the reality of such large
numbers of 21st century pilgrims in a tiger reserve is an enormous challenge. The
Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department, with its innovative EDCs, has shown how to

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provide for pilgrimage in a way that benefits pilgrims, local communities and the
habitat.

Surely, Swamy Ayyappa, astride his tiger, would be pleased with these initiatives to
protect his abode.