Sabarimalai routes: some details
50 years ago, the devotees visiting Lord Ayyappan had to undertake the journey through dense and dangerous forests.
Only 5000 devotees visited and had the Darshan of Lord Ayyappan by the Mannarkulanji salakyam Road for the Mandala Poojai.
Currently, there are other routes to reach Sabarimalai 3 roads via Yerumeli, Vandiperiyar, Salakkyam have been rectified and re-laid. This has facilitated more than 4 crore devotees who entered through these 3 routes to have a Darshan of Lord Ayyappan.
· Those who travel via Yerumeli road have to travel through the dense forest & mountain and reach Sabarimalai.
· Vandiperiyar is located at 94 km distance in the route between Kumuni & Kottayam. By travelling 12.8 km from Vandiperiyar, one can reach Sabarimalai.
· The simplest & easiest route is to travel from Salkkyam to Sabarimalai. Pambai is located at 8 km from Salakkyam, Sabarimalai is located at 7 km from Pambai.
From Tamil Nadu
· Senkottai Punalur Pthanamthitta route 170 km
· Kumuli Vandiperiyar Yerumeli Pilappalli 180 km
Travel by train from Kottayam or Chengannur up to Punalur. Travel by bus from Punalur to Pambai.
Travel by flight up to Trivandrum or Cochin, or Nedumbacherry and then travel by bus from there to Pambai.
Kerala Transport Corporation buses operating on the routes of Coimbatore, Palani, and Tenkasi will go up to Pambai.
Buses entering from Tamil Nadu & other states will be allowed up to Nilakkal.From here, one has to take the Kerala State Transport buses only.
Starting point End point Distance in km Yerumeli Pambai 56 Kottayam Yerumeli 72 Kottayam Pambai 128 Chengannur Pambai 93 Thiruvalla Pambai 99 Ernakula Kottayam (via Pambai) 200 Alappuzha Pambai 137 Pathanamthitta Pambai 69 Pandhanam Pambai 84 Trivandrum Pambai 175 Ernakulam Yerumeli via Palai, Ponkullam, 175
From Chennai
Chennai to Sabarimalai 780 km
· Special government buses start every hour from 2.00 PM till 8.00 PM from Chennai to Pambai via Theni & Kambum.
· Chennai Trivandrum express train starts at 3.25 PM.
· Chennai Trivandrum Mail starts at 7.45 PM.Get down at Kottayam.
By train
· There are no direct trains between Madurai & Sabarimalai. Podhigai Express starting from Chennai at 8.00 PM reaches Madurai at 5.00 AM. Travel to Senkottai and from there to Sabarimalai.
· There are passenger trains from Madurai to Senkottai at 6.30 AM, 11.00 AM, and 5.00 PM.Reach Senkottai and proceed to Sabarimalai.
Kerala Bus Service
After the start of the Sabarimalai season, special buses are run from Trivandrum, Kottayam, Puthanam, Thitta, Pandhanam, Kottarakkarai, Ernakulam, and Yerumeli. Charges for these special buses are 30% extra.
Important routes to Sabarimalai with distances
Via Kottayam
· Kottayam Chozhancheri Ranni Pambai 119 km
· Kottayam Kodungur Manimala Pambai 105 km
· Kottayam Manimala Athikkayam Pambai 103 km
· Kottayam Ponkunnam Yerumeli Pilappalli Pambai 90 km
Via Yerumeli
· Yerumeli Ranni Vadaserikkarai Pambai 75 km
· Yerumeli Kannamalai Pambai 56 km
· Yerumeli Athikkayam Perundau Pambai 64 km
· Yerumeli Snthonkarai Athikkayam Pambai 69 km
Via Pandhanam
· Pandhanam Pathanamthitta Vadasserikkarai Pambai 84 km
Via Senkottai
· Senkottai Puynalur Pathanamthitta Pambai 170 km
· Kumuni Vandperiyar Yerumerli Pambai 180 km
· Nagerkoil Trivandrum Pandhanamthitta Vadasserikkarai Pambai 225 km
