Kerala: Agasthyakoodam trek — once closed to women — opens this Republic Day

Agasthyakoodam trek

The Agasthyakoodam trekking route. (KA Shaji/South First)

Agasthyakoodam gained national attention six years ago thanks to the violent protests by Sangh Parivar cadres opposing women’s entry to the abode of the bachelor god Ayyappa at Sabarimala. Simultaneously, a high court order allowed women’s entry to Agastya’s abode, located on the southeastern edge of the Thiruvananthapuram district.

With a court order in place, hundreds of women began registering online for the trek overseen by the Kerala Forest Department.

There were concerns about the reaction of the local tribal community of Kani, for whom Agastya is a supreme god. Despite efforts by communal elements to provoke the Kani community, its members decided to respect the court order and adapt to the changing times.

Thus, one of the last bastions of gender discrimination crumbled.

This marks the fifth year since the Forest Department lifted the ban on women at Agasthyakoodam, the second-highest peak in Kerala — standing at 1,868 metres — inside the Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary.

In 2019, 600 women participated in the trek during the hiking season, which occurs every year between mid-January and the first week of March. In 2023, 3,200 women took part. The numbers were minimal in the three preceding years due to the Covid-induced lockdown, and restrictions on travel and trekking.

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Trekking beyond gender

“The trek to Agasthyakoodam involves adventure and risk. But the trek to the top of the hill has no parallels as it is a veritable storehouse of biodiversity and breathtaking views of nature. The view from the top is exhilarating,” recalls K Dhanya Sanal, an official with the Defence Ministry, who made history as the first woman to hike up the 1,868-metre mountain in 2019.

A year after Dhanya conquered the peak, 62-year-old Nagaratnamma from Bengaluru ascended the hill, becoming the eldest among the women who had climbed the hill so far. Access to the hills is through the Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary in Thiruvananthapuram, with the Agasthyakoodam mountains spanning Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts of Kerala and Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu.

Forest officials inspecting the trekking route. (KA Shaji/South First)

“Gender discrimination is a thing of the past. When the court order came, we were apprehensive about breaking the tradition but chose to respect the verdict. It seems Sage Agastya, too, ratified our decision,” said T Mohan, president of Agasthyakoodam Kshethra Kanikkar Trust.

In a landmark order, Judge Anu Sivaraman stated that even if Kanis possess certain religious rights over Agasthyakoodam, they would not supersede the fundamental human rights of women to participate in the annual trek to the peaks with rich biodiversity. The judge prohibited trekkers, irrespective of gender, from entering the immediate vicinity of the forest temple of Agastya and offering religious rituals, maintaining exclusive control for the Kani tribals.

According to Divya Divakaran, one of the petitioners and the secretary of the social collective Women Integration and Growth Through Sports (WINGS), the legal battle to lift the inexplicable embargo on women’s entry to Agasthyakoodam was hard-fought.

In 2016, the women’s organisation observed that forest officials had issued a notification preventing women and children from making the two-day hike, which included an overnight stay in a spartan base camp. Women collectives Pennoruma, led by M Sulfath, and Anweshi, led by former Naxalite leader K Ajitha, joined WINGS in a court battle to challenge gender bias, gaining wide attention.

For four years until 2019, the organisations held numerous demonstrations in front of the state government secretariat and the Forest Department headquarters, demanding the lifting of the ban.

They also repeatedly petitioned the government, but to no avail. However, their legal fight bore unexpected fruit in 2018, enabling women to climb the holy hills where over 2,000 varieties of rare medicinal plants grow.

“Only a limited number of passes would be issued on a first-come, first-served basis. No quota for women in it. No construction facilitating boarding on the hills would be permitted as Agasthyakoodam is an ecologically fragile biosphere reserve. The base camp has bare minimum facilities and does not match other trekking places,” said Forest Minister AK Saseendran.

As in the case of Sabarimala’s Ayyappa, Sage Agastya is considered celibate. This was the reason why Kanis objected to the entry of women. Legend has it that the sage, said to have penned some of the hymns in the Rigveda and made occasional appearances in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, chose Agasthyakoodam as his final resting place.

For the Kanis, the sage is “mootha kani” or “king of kanis”.

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Biodiversity at its best

According to Thiruvananthapuram-based wildlife photographer Rahana Habeeb, the trek was a fantastic experience as the forest tracts were scenic and abundant with Arogyapacha plants, chewing whose leaves ensure quick rejuvenation.

“Agasthyakoodam is a paradise for bird watchers, and most people use this trek to see exotic avian species. It is also home to 2,000 species of flora, including lichens, orchids, mosses, and ferns,” said Rahana.

“It’s a highly monitored trek that would not cause any harm to the fragile ecology of the southern edge of the Western Ghats. The passion for the forest and the wild brings us here rather than any preconceived notions of gender considerations,” she said.

Each participant would be charged a fee of ₹1,800, including ₹300 as an eco-management special fee. Only those over 14 years are permitted and must produce fitness certificates from registered medical practitioners issued seven days before the trek.

Those in the age group of 14 and 18 years will also have to submit consent letters from their parents or guardians.

Bookings can be made at: https://forest.kerala.gov.in/index.php/take-a-walk-to-the-wild?id=548