Sabarimala: A state appointed six-member village-level committee has excluded the sacred grove of Sabarimala and Pampa in scope with the Ecologically Sensitive Area, considering its importance as a pilgrim centre. The committee was appointed to prepare a number-wise list of ESAs in Perinad village that houses Sabarimala. Village level committees were appointed in all 119 villages across the region that comes under the ESA identified by the Kasturirangan Committee for the conservation of Western Ghats.
The village level committee, chaired by Perinad grama panchayat president V.N. Sudhakaran, has submitted its report to the Director of Survey on Saturday, that has marked Sabarimala as a ‘pilgrimage zone.’ Sudhakaran opined that including Sabarimala in ESA will freeze all pilgrim-amenity work as part of the Sabarimala master plan at Sabarimala, Pampa, and Nilackal. Sabarimala forests do not come under any survey number and hence the committee has earmarked it as ‘unsurveyed.’ Forests as well as occupied forest land do not have any survey number.
The State government has also appointed a three-member panel chaired by Oommen V. Oommen to study the impact of the report on Western Ghats prepared by the high-level working group chaired by K. Kasturirangan. The stand to be adopted by the Centre as well as the Oommen V. Oommen panel on the village-level committee’s findings on Sabarimala holds the key to development of the pilgrim centre which is visited by almost double the State’s population every year.
The place of pilgrimage was recently swamped by thousands of devotees for the annual Niraputhari festival which marks the beginning of the harvest season. Braving heavy rain, people witnessed the procession carrying paddy spikes brought from different parts of the state. The procession, which was led by Melsanthi Krishnadas Nampoothiri, was taken out from the Holy Steps to the Sreekovil.
Laksharchana, Sahasrakalasam and Kalabhabhishekam were the special rituals held as part of the festival. The temple was later closed, marking the conclusion of the five-day monthly poojas and Niraputhari festival. The Sabarimala temple will reopen on August 16 for five days in view of Chingam, the first month of the Malayalam calendar.
