The Dog That Walked 600 Km With Sabarimala Pilgrim

www.thenewsminute.com ^ | 12/28/2016 | Megha Varier

[ThinkingBuddha]

Naveen first saw Malu on the second day of his nearly 700km pilgrimage by foot from the Mookambika temple to the Sabarimala shrine. Naveen had no way of knowing then that he had found a friend of a lifetime. Back then Malu was just a stray dog that was curious about a bearded man walking along the road.

It took Naveen 17 days to make the journey of more than 600 km by foot. And incredibly, Malu was with him almost every step of the way. And when he made his return journey on December 23, Malu came back home with him, seated right next to him in a bus.

Naveen began his journey on the morning of December 7. At first, he was worried about several stray dogs that approached him, especially in the morning hours, and invariably shood them off. But something about Malu set this dog apart from others.

“It was after nearly 80 kilometers or so, that I noticed her. She walked towards me from the opposite direction and stopped when she reached right in front of me. I did try shooing her off many times, but she would just not go,” Naveen tells The News Minute.

Malu had a mind of her own. For the first few days, she would maintain a distance of about 20 metres from Naveen and walk ahead of him. “She would regularly stop and look back at me, probably to make sure I was still following her. After a few days, she began to walk behind me, constantly sniffing at my feet. I let her stay,” Naveen fondly recalls.

The journey earned her a name, and a family. Malu is short for "Malikappuram", a term used to address female Sabarimala devotees. 

[ThinkingBuddha]

Any story that ends with a stray dog finding a home, is a good story in my book.

[Robert DeLong]

Okay this story is in India.

Sabarimala is a Hindu pilgrimage centre located at the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District, Perunad grama panchayat in Kerala. It is one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world, with an estimated over 100 million devotees visiting every year. Ayyappan's temple is situated amidst 18 hills. The temple is situated on a hilltop at an altitude of 1260 m (4,133 ft) above mean sea level, and is surrounded by mountains and dense forests. The dense forest, (Periyar Tiger Reserve), around the temple is known as poongavanam. Temples exist in each of the hills surrounding Sabarimala. While functional and intact temples exist at many places in the surrounding areas like Nilakkal Kalaketty, and Karimala remnants of old temples survive to this day on remaining hills.

Sabarimala is linked to pilgrimage predominantly undertaken by Hindus. Sabarimala pilgrims can be identified easily, as they wear black or blue dress. They do not shave until the completion of the pilgrimage, and smear Vibhuti or sandal paste on their forehead.

In 1991, the Kerala High Court restricted entry of women above the age of 10 and below the age of 50 from offering worship at Sabarimala Shrine during any period of the year. Presently, the Supreme Court of India has taken a petition to review the judgment of High Court and allow entry of women. The Supreme Court hearings are in progress and no decision has yet been made.

Yes, glad the dog found a home.

[katana]

We have a Carolina Dog, supposedly a remnant of the breed that came from Asia over the Ice Age Bering Land Bridge, related to Indian feral dogs and Australian Dingoes. Most intelligent and affectionate dog we’ve ever owned with behaviors almost like an oversized house cat (fifty pounds of deer pelt yellow dog curled up and sleeping on your lap). The dog in these pictures could be her twin.