Ritual at AP temple to rid Sabarimala of ‘evil’

A team of tantris from Sabarimala is camping at the Ayyappa Devasthanam in Mettuguda here to make necessary changes in the position of certain deities in the belief that correction in 'Vastu' will ward off evil from the temple in Kerala.

The Sabarimala temple has been embroiled in a controversy after the apex court granted the entry of women of all ages into the temple.

The 'sarpakav' (which means 'temple for snake gods without roof') ritual is being performed from Friday to Sunday at the temple premises as per the advice of Sabarimala priest Kandararu Rajeevaru and architect Kanipayoor Krishnan Namboodiripad.

The ritual includes the shifting of the earlier SarpaKav from the north-west side of the temple to the south-west side, where it should be.

"At the time of construction of the Mettuguda temple, surprisingly the plan drawn by Krishnan Namboodiripad was not followed. Even the great Neelakatharu Tantri, the maternal uncle of Rajeevaru, who came for 'pratishtapana' of the Ayyappa idol here has noticed the flaw. However, it was the 'devaprasnam' ritual in 2015 in Sabarimala to know the will of the lord, and another ritual 2018, that pointed out the flaw in the position of the Serpent God," Vinod Nambiar, the general secretary of the Mettuguda temple told DH.

Unlike with most other temples, Ayyappa devotees feel that there is an umbilical chord between Sabarimala and the other Ayyappa temples.

"That is why we feel that the ongoing trouble in Sabarimala and the troubles here are interconnected. A correction here will have at least 60% impact over there on the main temple," Vino said.

He said the serpent gods have a positive impact on the health of the people and also the growth of the temple in financial terms.

It was observed by the Mettuguda temple that in recent years residents of the street where the temple was located, including the priest of the temple, were facing unknown health problems.

"Following the death of two presidents of the Devasthanam, we have decided that we will make the necessary changes, and by god's grace we could collect Rs 7 lakh to complete the project," he said. However, the tantris refused to say anything as they were forbidden to do so by the head priest in Sabarimala.