Thursday, January 19, 2006

Designed reality

Interesting script. get it from here


DdE 015SIGNed


REA 018LITred y

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Makaravilakku

The annual drama happened, as usual, today.

Today when the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum)opened after 'deeparadhana', At the distant eastern hilly horizon , the light of 'jyothi' appeared to the immense satisfaction of the thousands of devotees who have thronged to the temple to pay obeisance to the Lord. This marks the grand finale of the two-month period of the Sabarimala pilgrimage.

They went home happily after the Makarajyothi/makaravilakku darshan.

I seriously believe most of them, deep in their minds, know that the whole thing is a show arranged by the Travancore Devaswom Board with a silent nod from the Government.

Days before makarajyothi, The Kerala Police/ Forest Guards cordon the adjacent hill of sabarimala. On the auspicious day, they climb up the hill and make the settings ready for "the annual makarajyothi show". They keep ready a huge pile of camphor, wet blankets etc. When the sreekovil is opened, they light the pile. Earlier, the time of opening the sreekovil and the lighting of the fire was synchronized by the AIR live commentary. Now with mobile phones, it should be much easier. The priest gives a missed call to the police, and they light the pile. Whoa ! The mysterious Makarajyothi appears! For anyone who is looking from sabarimala, it looks like a distant star in the sky. The police cover the fire with wet blankets, intermittently, to give the blinking effect!

Some years back, The Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham(The humanist association of Kerala) proved that the whole thing is a hoax. They climbed the hill and lighted a number of fires. I dont know if the devotees were confused or happy when they saw a number of ‘makarajyothis’ !

But, Thousands still believe Makarajyothi is a star which appears 3 times on that special occasion.

Why is the Travancore Devaswom Board doing this?

Simple. Sabarimala is a duck that lays golden eggs. It brings in the money for running other temples of lesser gods - they dont have the celebrity status of Ayyappan. They live below poverty line, cant earn enough collection to change a light bulb.

Why does the Government of Kerala support this ?

Even when the communists where in power, they supported this. Sabarimala is a place where thousands of people visit. Even from other states. The economy of the Pathanamtitta district depends heavily on Sabarimala. ( It is from the other states the money comes. Mallus believe in Free and Open Gods.)

Why does people believe this hoax ?

1) They don’t know that it’s a hoax.
2) They know it’s a hoax, but still wants to believe it. They are happy living in a world where still miracles happen.

I have been to Sabarimala n number of times. First, when I went, I didn’t have any idea of gods or miracles, I was a kid. Later, even when I knew the whole thing is hoax, I climbed the Sabarimala, not because I believe in gods or to witness the miracle, simply because by then I was the person who had been to the temple most number of times, thereby making me the leader(guruswamy) of the team. All the other guys (my friends, who otherwise kick my ass) had to touch my feet and get my blessings before they did anything. That was fun! You know, people lining up to get your blessings.. For a moment you get to know how god feels when people ask for blessings !

Being an atheist is good, while others wake up in the morning, take bath and go to the temple, you can comfortably sleep under your blanket.

UPDATE: 3/4/07
Since this is becoming one of the most commented blogpost in all my blogs, i am adding a few more links, which proves my point. These links were submitted by the fellow bloggers who commented below.

Here are the links
Fake Fire - article by TN Gopakumar in Kalakaumudi (malayalam)
Not a Miracle - NDTV news article



Tuesday, January 10, 2006

inevitable aftermath of being single

well, i stopped visiting some of my relatives becos of this.















But it has followed me. followed me right into my Yahoo inbox. I am running out of places to hide !