B Sivakumar catches up
with a pilgrim who is walking from Varanasi to Sabarimala to educate people on
the dangers of carrying plastic to temples.
Every year, millions of pilgrims visit the Swami Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, Kerala, between October and January for the annual pilgrimage. Along with the surging crowd, garbage heaps, too, keep piling up in the wooded areas leading to the shrine. To highlight the harmful effects of leftover plastics and other wastes on the flora and fauna of the Sabarimala hills, T R Ananthapadmanabhan, a devotee of Ayyappa, is on a padayatra, or journey on foot, from Varanasi to Sabarimala - a distance of 3,000 kms, the major portion of which he has already covered.
Creating awareness
A van, with posters in different languages explaining the ill-effects of plastics, follows him at a distance Ananthapadmanabhan carries an irumudi kattu (a two-chambered bag to carry offerings to the deity and snacks, grains and lentil to be consumed by the pilgrim) on his head, a water bottle and a banner on his back explaining the need to protect the environment in and around Sabarimala "Every year, 8,750 tonnes of garbage are collected in the Sabarimala hills after the pilgrims leave.
Even during the pilgrim season, it becomes difficult to take the mandatory holy dip in the Pamba river, enroute to the shrine, as the waste is dumped into the waters," says Ananthapadmanabhan during a brief stopover in Chennai Eco pilgrimage trust. This is the 19th year of padayatra for the former bank employee. Every year, he walks from Chennai to Sabarimala but this year, in order to highlight the evils of plastic, he decided to start his padayatra from Varanasi. Ananthapadmanabhan, along with a temple priest Srijith Namboodri, set up the Eco Pilgrimage Trust in 2009 to rid the hills of plastic.
"In the first year, a small team of volunteers, including some college students, cleaned up a part of the Pamba river. Last year, we had 300 volunteers who cleaned the entire river stretch. Due to the awareness generated during this padayatra, we hope to enlist 3,000 volunteers this year," he says. Plastic kills animals. Ananthapadmanabhan stops to rest after every five km and covers about 25 km daily on an average. He hopes to complete the padayatra, which he started in October, by January 7. According to Vandan, one of his associates, "People throw used plastic cups, bags and water bottles in the forest.
Many animals have died after eating them. In the van, we are carrying samples of elephant dung which contains plastic to highlight the dangers of littering plastic. The Sabarimala forest officials say many animals, including some tigers, have died after eating the toxic wastes". "The menace can be contained to a large extent if the pilgrims stop carrying plastics in the irumudi. The temple administration doesn't have the wherewithal to clean the hills after the pilgrims leave. That is why the trust has decided to pitch in," says Ananthapadmanabhan.
Some devotees even throw the special dhotis and garlands made of beads into the river, stopping the flow of water. "Anyway, most of these dhotis and garlands are collected by contractors and recycled into the market next year," he adds. Ananthapadmanabhan says, "Ayyappa is everything for me. I want the Sabarimala temple as well as the route to the shrine to be clean. I will do whatever I can to make it a no-plastic zone". He and his friends have been bearing the padayatra expenses. Though they are short of funds, the team has covered most part of the tour without any glitch and they feel that Ayyappa's grace is with them.
PLEASE!!!!
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