Roadside India | Sabarimala pilgrims

When you look at the picture above, you probably see two seemingly overloaded lorries/trucks. Look closer and you will see that on the left, are a group of people and what seems like smoke.

Pilgrims wearing black ‘mundus.’

Smoke it is. And the people in the picture are preparing their lunch at a roadside make shift open-air kitchen. These men are pilgrims on their way to Sabarimala. And those who embark on this journey do so after a fast during which they stop eating non-vegetarian food and even abstain from love-making. They prefer to wear a black mundu (a sarong-like piece of clothing) during this period. As part of the fast, they do not cut their hair or shave their beards or even pare their nails. They are usually particular about the food they eat. It is supposed to have been prepared by someone who has had a morning bath — not to mention — only by someone who is not menstruating. As such, many of them, when on the road would rather set camp on the roadside and cook up a meal than grab a bite at a restaurant.

Sabarimala is a hill-top temple in Pathanamthitta in Kerala, India. Sabarimala is a popular place of Hindu pilgrimage that sees thousands maybe even millions of people flocking to it when its nadas (temple gates) are open.