PATHANAMTHITTA: The start of the Sabarimala season sees a sea of pilgrims from Kerala and other neighbouring states arriving at the hill shrine. This is also the time for as many as 1,276 people from Kerala and Tamil Nadu to earn some additional money as dolly bearers.
For Thirumalaswami, this is his first time as a dolly bearer in Sabarimala. “I did not expect the work to be this physically demanding. But I like doing it as it gets me a decent income. I hope to be doing this in the coming years too. Back home I am a farmer. It was by brother Paramasivan who first brought me here,” the 36-year-old from Subramaniapuram in Tenkasi told TNIE.
As many as 640 men from Tamil Nadu work here as dolly carriers. Currently there are 319 dollies ferrying pilgrims from Pampa to Sannidhanam, and back. Four men operate each dolly and they take at least one-and-a-half hours to make the five-kilometre one-way trek. This 24-hour service is the lifeline of the elderly and sick devotees who are unable to make the journey on foot.
The dolly is a cane chair fitted to two poles along its arms. According to dolly bearers, the chairs are purchased from Sengottai and it costs Rs 12,000 to purchase and transport each to Sabarimala. The trunks of eucalyptus trees are used as poles. The dollies are brought to Pampa fully assembled.
Suresh, 45, has been working as a dolly carrier for the past 18 years. “I am a casual worker at a tea estate in Idukki’s Vandiperiyar. However, when the Sabarimala season begins, we come here and work as dolly bearers from mid-November to mid-January. It is a fact that we develop orthopedic health issues.
Sometimes the pain in our shoulders and leg joints becomes insufferable. But I am not ready to quit as the income is a big relief for my family, says Suresh. “My family consists of my wife and three daughters. Two of them are doing their BEd and the younger one is a first-year degree student. The income from Sabarimala supplements my wages from the tea estate and helps me meet their educational expenses,” Suresh adds.
“The dolly service costs Rs 6,500 per person for a return trip. It is Rs 3,250 one way. Of this, Rs 250 is handed over to the Devaswom Board. A dolly bearer gets Rs 1,500 for an up-and-down trip. “We get a maximum of three trips daily. Sometimes it is one or two trips. But following the disruption brought on by Covid, this is ensuring us a good income stream and we are happy for that. My father works the dollies here with me,” said Thankaraj, 36, from Thenkasi.
“It was much more demanding earlier. The rocky slopes have now given way to paths paved with concrete. We lacked a proper rest room. Now we have a good building to rest ourselves and store our luggage. Men between the ages of 20 and 60 work as dolly bearers now, “ said Suresh of Vandiperiyar.
This is 78-year-old Subramanian’s third pilgrimage to the hill shrine and on this occasion he made his way to Sannidhanam in a dolly. “The dolly service is a big boon for aged people like me. Health issues prevented me from attempting the trek. I am so thankful to the dolly bearers who took great care of me. Moreover, as most of the bearers are from Tamil Nadu, I did not face any communication issues,” the devotee from Avadi, Chennai said.
The dolly service was started in Sabarimala when then President V V Giri visited Sabarimala in the early 1970s. Giri’s doctors had advised him against attempting the trek to the hill shrine. So a senior forest officer put forward the idea of a dolly and the Travancore Devaswom Board made the arrangements to take the former first citizen of the country to Sannidhanam.
Harikumar G, an official with the Sabarimala Development Project, told TNIE that most of the 636 Malayalees who work as bearers are from Vandiperiyar. There are also people from Thiruvanthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta.
“In order to work as a bearer, one must produce a fitness certificate, a certificate from their local police station clearing them of any crime, Aadhaar cards and photographs. After cross checking the documents, they have to pay a fee Rs 400 per dolly for getting the pass to start their service here,” Harikumar added.