City-information for Sabarimala

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The Ayyappan Temple is located at an elevation of 950m, deep in the forests of the Sahyadri mountain range and 190 km north of Trivandrum. The people dressed in black that you see all over South India are doing austerities to come to this temple. This temple is dedicated to Dharma Sasta as Ayyappa.

This is the most visited temple in all of India, even though it is totally in the middle of nowhere and it is closed part of the year. Over 25 million pilgrims went there in 1990, an increase of 10 million since 1987. More and m ore people are going each year. On Makara Vilakku day over 2 million people visit this temple. The pilgrim season is from November to March. From mid-November to the end of December the temple is opened for 41 days. Makara Sankranti (mid-January) is the most crowded time of the year here. The temple is also open during mid-April, Prathistha day (May/June), and during the Onam festival (Aug/Sept).

Young women, between 15 and 50, are not supposed to come to this temple, because Ayyappa is an avowed celibate.