Simplified Laws Guide to Taxation and Legal Concern It took 5 decades! I had never been to the Sabarimala Temple.
A couple of months back, one of my friends suggested that we should go to the Ayyappa Temple, and finally he booked the darshan online. Along with the darshan booking, prasadam tickets can also be booked.
As planned, on the morning of 16th April 2026, seven of us started from Bangalore. We reached the airport around 7.45 am and took an Air India flight to Kochi. The flying time is hardly about 45 minutes.
Once we came out of the airport, our vehicle, an Urbana, was ready. It is a nice vehicle, unlike its poor cousin, the Force Tempo. Mr Jasim, the owner-cum-driver of the vehicle, was friendly yet professional. We started from Kochi around 10.15 am.
On the way, we stopped twice, once for some fruits and juice, and then for food at Aryas Veg Restaurant. The food was reasonable. Since our expectations were very low, the restaurant looked much better than expected!
By the time we reached Nilakkal, it was around 3 pm. Except for cars, private vehicles are not allowed beyond Nilakkal. So we had to get down from the Urbana and catch a KSRTC bus to Pampa. It is around a 45-minute drive.
The KSRTC buses brought back old memories of village life. The bus, manual gear, windows, window shutters, everything felt like it was from 40 years back! Since it was a “Super Fast” bus, it was moving at quite a speed on those tiny roads. With the breeze coming in and the hot weather outside, the ride was actually fun. I liked it.
Once we got down at Pampa, the place felt very dirty and unhygienic. The toilets were, as expected, not clean. The holy river looked like it was crying for water.
After the security check, one thing you will surely notice, tender coconut vendors. There were 3 or 4 of them, selling thousands of coconuts. It looked like a factory! And the coconut water was very tasty.
Then our hill climb started at 4.15 pm. It is suggested to go barefoot. However, people can also wear socks or even footwear. There is a managed place at the top to keep footwear.
Initially, I thought we had to climb actual hills with mud and stones. But to my surprise, I had gone there without reading anything or asking anyone about their experience, because I wanted the trip to surprise me, the entire walking stretch is laid with stone slabs, and in some places there are staircases with railings.
Most of the stretch has either natural shade from trees or shelter-type roofing. So you are not really walking under the open sky for long stretches.
Upto around 2.5 km, the path is steep. At one point, I got exhausted, even though I walk around 5 km every single day in Bangalore! After the steep climbing part, you have to walk on a normal flat stretch for almost an equal distance. By the time we reached, it was 6.15 pm. We took around 2 hours.
There was a heavy queue for those going with the Irumudi vratham. But for civil darshan, like us, the queue was not too long. Overall, we finished the darshan, collected prasadam, and completed everything by around 8.15 pm.
After that, we had light food at Saravana Bhavan, not the original group, of course, but one of those duplicate-name local eateries.
I forgot to mention that on the way, you will find medicated hot water facilities every 200 metres supplied by the temple trust. There are also private stalls selling watermelon, juices, mango slices, etc. And surprisingly, there were clean toilets in some places too.
I felt coming down was more painful than climbing. I took more time to get down. Around 10.30 pm, we got into the bus from Pampa again. We had booked Muruppel Homestay, which is around 1 hour 50 minutes from Pampa. The place is neat and clean. It is not luxury, but a decent and functional place, more than sufficient for an overnight stay. The hospitality is good.
The next day, we left from there and went to Kochi via Alleppey. There is nothing much to see or do in Alleppey, at least from what I felt.
We got decent veg food throughout the journey. The weather was hot, but bearable for a 2-day trip.
A long-pending wish of going to Shabarimala has now been accomplished in life. Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa.
I would suggest people in their early 20s and 30s should try to visit. As we age, these kinds of destinations may become harder to manage physically
CA Kumar Prasad
Ph: 9845721255
