Shabari Jayanti: Story Of A Woman Who Defied Caste And Gender Barriers

Shabari Jayanti is celebrated on Krishna Paksha Saptami of Phalgun month. This year, Shabari Jayanti will be celebrated on March 5, 2021. Etymologically Shabari Jayanti means the day of Shabari, a woman devotee of Lord Rama who fed tasted berries to Lord Rama and Lakshman. It is believed that Lord Rama visited Shabari’s ashram on this day and blessed her with moksha and the designation of a Goddess.

How it is celebrated?

On Shabari Jayanti, devotees worship Lord Rama and offer him prasad while remembering Goddess Shabari. Moreover, on this day, a huge fair is organised in the Sabrimala Temple in South India. The temple is named after the hill where Lord Rama met Shabari and a man named Sastha. It is believed that Sastha’s followers constructed the Sabarimala temple to commemorate the place where Lord Rama met Sastha. It was Shabari who introduced Lord Rama to Sastha and hence her name and contribution are significant to the history of the temple.

The story behind Shabari Jayanti

Shabari was a lower caste woman who left her home to gain education and learn about Dharma. But because of her caste, many gurus and accomplished discriminated her as an untouchable. Ultimately, she gained support from Sage Matanga on Mount Rishyamukh who gave her shelter and educated her. Shabari was a devotee of Lord Rama. Impressed by her devotion, Sage Matanga, while on his death bed, blessed her and said that Lord Rama himself will meet Shabari and provide moksha to her.

Subsequently, Shabari waited every day since then for Lord Rama. She used to go out of her ashram every day, collect berries and taste them to ensure that they are sweet so that she could feed only good berries to Lord Rama. And one day, her devotion bore happy results as Lord Rama finally visited Shabari’s ashram while he was on his way to Lanka to rescue Sita from Ravan. Although it is said that offerings to God should not be tasted, Shabari served tasted berries to Lord Rama. And the deity was so happy with her devotion and love for him that he ate the berries and said that those were the best food that he ever had.

On that day, Lord Rama blessed Shabari after which she attained moksha and the designation of a goddess.

Watching from the feminist lens

The story of Shabari is a prominent narrative that recognises the importance and power of women devotees. Not many stories of devotion have women in it who are free to walk on the path of their wish and desires leaving behind the duties of home, wifehood and motherhood. The Bhakti Movement of India also showcased the stories of many such women devotees, like Meera Bai, who exercised their freedom of expressing love for Gods and Goddesses and the freedom to devote themselves to something that they loved and truly wanted in their lives.

Moreover, the story of Shabari breaks through the double marginalisation that women face in our society- one is of gender and the other is of caste. She defied the social conventions by leaving her marital home and choosing to travel alone and educate herself. Shabari also broke the caste barriers by gaining education, that too from a Brahman and by being hailed as a Goddess and the best devotee of Lord Rama.

This Shabari Jayanti, as women, let us imbibe the resilience, thirst for knowledge and devotion that Goddess Shabari embodies.

Find all the dates of the festivals in March 2021 here.

Find all the dates of the festival in year 2021 here.