Sivagiri Mutt and the Sivagiri Pilgrimage, Varkala

Sivagiri mutt is an important  pilgrimage  center built in 1904 at the top of the Sivagiri hill near Varkala. Sivagiri is the place where Sree Narayana Guru's Samadhi is located. Even now, after many decades, his Samadhi is visited by thousands of devotees  from all over, donned in yellow  attire, during the Sivagiri pilgrimage days from 30th December to 1st January.

About Sree Narayana Guru or the Gurudevan of Sivagiri
Sree Narayana Guru was born in 1856,  in the pretty hamlet of Chempazhanthi near Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the state of Kerala in India. He grew up to be a great sage Sree Narayana, the most revolutionary social reformer Kerala had ever produced.  He was born into a backward community of Ezhavas in the days of caste ridden Kerala sociaty.  Gurudevan as he was fondly called by his followers  and friends, led the reform movement  revolting against casteism and there by transforming the Kerala society.  Sree Narayana Guru was revered for his  Vedic knowledge, poetic proficiency, openness to the views of others, non-violent philosophy and his unrelenting resolve to set aright social wrongs.

About  Sivagiri Pilgrimage  and the goals of the Pilgrimage
Sree Narayana Guru paased away on 20th september and the samadhi is there at Sivagiri. Sivagiri Pilgrimage is on 16th and 17th Dhanu ( Malayalam Month) which usually falls on the 30th and 31st December. They have to go through Purification before they come on pilgrimage for about 10 days in the mode of Buddha's teachings. The devotees are to follow the Pancha dharma, namely, body, food, mind, word and deed.  The pilgrimage should be conduted peacefully  and chanting of the hymns. No shouting is allowed during the pilgrimage.  The goals of the pilgrimage are Education, Cleanliness, Devotion to God, Organization, Agriculture, Trade, Handicrafts and Technical training.    The devotees are to wear yellow coloured clothes like the ones which Gautham Buddha wore. The devotee can just dip the white Mundu in turmeric water and wear them for the pilgrimage and need not buy new ones.