Unaware of Vishnu’s ploy, Shiva, overcome by desire, also made love to the siren. Of this union a boy, Ayappa, was born who was gifted with the combined and awesome powers of Vishnu and Shiva. Shiva revealed the secrets of the universe to Ayappa to enable him to battle the forest demons and left him near a swift stream, where he was found by a tribal king who had no child of his own. As he grew older, Ayappa became a legend and killed many demons. His fame and his ability to perform miracles spread far and wide. Having fulfilled his destiny, Ayappa then entered the sanctum sanctorum of a tiny forest temple, where he kept company with only tigers and leopards.

To date, followers of Ayappa swear they have seen him riding majestically through deep forest glades atop a tiger. As many as four million pilgrims pass through the Periyar Tiger Reserve to visit the Ayappa temple each year. They believe Ayappa protects them from tigers and that is why they do not see the animals along their route!

Sambar, gaur, wild boar and other wild animals are hunted for meat. Even the Nilgiri langur and the lion-tailed macaque are not spared as their flesh is erroneously believed to have medicinal and aphrodisiacal properties. Poaching is difficult to control because the guards are ill-equipped and the terrain is extensive and difficult to patrol.

Timber is felled illegally. Rosewood and teak trees were particularly hard hit and can now be seen only around Thekkady. Less valuable species such as Terminalia are also being targetted. Other forest products such as cinnamon bark, cardomom, reeds, honey and wax are all being illegally exploited.

Tourism too poses a problem, with almost all residential tourist facilities and resorts in Kumily and Thekkady accessing wood from the forest.

Villagers depend completely on the sanctuary for fodder. Grazing promotes the growth of unpalatable weeds such as Lantana. Livestock also may transmit diseases to wild herbivore populations. The gaur population suffered a huge rinderpest outbreak in 1974. Annual fires also pose a problem.

The virtual sea of pilgrims that arrive each year between November and January to visit the Ayappa deity at Sabarimala are turning out to be the most serious problem after poaching, since they are very generous with their litter. Pleas by conservationists that the whole forest should be viewed as a temple and that destroying it amounts to sacrilege have fallen on deaf ears. Reports of elephants dying after drinking contaminated water (mixed with faeces and wastes from four million humans) are now common. Post mortems on deer have revealed many with intestinal blockage, caused by ingesting plastic bags in which half-eaten food was discarded by pilgrims.

When added to the other problems faced by the beleaguered staff, religious-tourism may just prove to be the proverbial last straw for Periyar.

Periyar: A Journey Remembered by Deep Kumar Narayana Kurup.
Sanctuary Vol XVI No 6 November/ December 1996.

A butterfly watcher in the Periyar Tiger Reserve by Suresh Elamon.