18th-step tradition at Sabarimala — step 16
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The 18 Sacred Steps (Pathinettāmpaḍi) at Sabarimala are more than physical stairs — they are a ritual mathematical map of the spiritual path from worldly entanglement to liberation. The pilgrim who has completed the 41-day vratam carries the irumudi (sacred bundle) on their head, climbs the Neelimala hill barefoot, breaks a coconut at the foot of the steps, and ascends one step at a time while chanting Svāmiye Śaraṇam Ayyappā.
The 18 steps are conventionally understood as:
Step 16 — Tamas represents: Tamas — inertia, the ground of being. Not rejected but integrated.
This is one of 18 facets of the integrated spiritual ascent. Each pilgrim, passing this step, is said to invoke and honour the particular power it embodies, surrendering its obstructive form (whether of a sense-organ, a passion, or a cosmic mode) and integrating its awakened form.
