note how he has not got the point of the pilgrimage -- he can only see it as wonderful mohammedans allowing hindus to come into their crummy little mosque.
has he *ever* seen a mohammedan ever going to a hindu temple? or a christist doing the same? instead of lauding the hindu openness and tolerance to semitic beliefs, he just babbles on.
and he says 'the vast majority' of pilgrims are hindu. yeah, like 49,999,999 out of 50,000,000
and he says this is the biggest religious festival in south india. how about in the whole goddam world, including the precious haj? and look at his estimate numbers: between 10 and 50 million. that's like saying the temperature is between 70 and 100 degrees, meaningless. the answer is somewhere around 25 million.
and finally, he talks about how the hindus go to the christist church. yeah, guess what -- a few years ago, the poor chief priest of sabarimala went on a goodwill visit to a church. the christist videotaped this, and used it as part of their propaganda -- that is, see, your chief priest goes to our church, so why don't you pilgrims convert! the jerks!
and oh, one more thing: christists burned the ayyappa shrine to the ground in the 1950s, in an attempt to grab the surrounding forest (most of kerala's forests have been grabbed by them). and then in the 1980s, they 'discovered' a wooden cross nearby at nilakkal, which had been 'left there by "saint thomas" in 52 CE'. absolutely incredible, but perfect for an 'eminent historian' like dalrymple. a) thomas didn't come to india. b) a wooden cross that survived 2000 years buried in kerala's damp soil. the real miracle? christist chutzpah in passing off such garbage as truth.
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