activity and the consumption of meat and alcohol. They wear black shirts
and call each other by the name of their deity Ayyappan
̄
. They have formed
these groups which transcend normal barriers of caste and socio-economic
lines. They have become part of this annual event for a variety of reasons.
The longing for community attracts some who have lost a sense of belonging
to normal kinship systems. Most have heard that the deity is unusually
powerful and can correct any of a host of problems. Some find the rigor and
adventure of the experience challenging. As with most classical festival
events, menstruating women are not permitted to participate, in this case,
on the grounds that the “deity is a bachelor” and might be distracted. At the
appropriate time, pilgrims set out for Sabaramala by car or train then walk
the last few kilometers. They carry small bifurcated bags bearing their rations
as the deity is said to have done in his days as a human. On the climax of
the trek, pilgrims stand at one of eighteen steps leading to the temple, the
step determined by the number of times one has made the pilgrimage. That
night, as all pilgrims watch, the sky is lighted mysteriously as if to indicate
the deity’s pleasure with those who have undergone this discipline.
While a century or two ago, a handful of tribal people and others made
their way to this remote shrine, by the mid-1950s increasing numbers of
Keralites, Tamilians, and others made their way to Sabaramala. Plays and
poems had been written extolling the powers of the god. The deity’s devotees
spread the word that Ayyappan
̄
transcended caste and social boundaries- that in this pilgrimage genuine community could be experienced and
virtually any problem resolved. The light that flooded the skies (though
artificially created by the resident tantrisor priests) symbolized the start
of the light half of the year and the beginning of new possibilities. Those
who have made the trip believe it to have been one of the most compelling
experiences of their lives and want to return. Shrines to Ayyappan
̄
have
subsequently spread especially throughout South India and overseas where
Keralites have gone.
Bonalu, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
A very different phenomenon is the festival known in Andhra Pradesh as
Bonalu (literally, “feeding [of the goddess”). Occurring in the months of
June–July, the festival honors goddesses of neighborhoods and families
and invokes their power for the days and months ahead.^12 The roots of the
festival lie in rural settings where goddesses are represented by trees or rocks
smeared with red and yellow (vermilion and turmeric) stripes. The god-
desses were protectors of a village or portion of land and were believed able
to ward off diseases and other evils. Accordingly, the goddesses were offered
sacrificed goats and rice boiled and processed in clay pots. When in 1869 a
202 Religion in Contemporary India