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Every year, multitudes of pilgrims at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in a Kerala forest go into raptures at the sight of a flickering flame far away at Ponnambalamedu grasslands. Their numbers have only increased even after the official revelation that the light, which they thought divine, was purely a manmade one
India sustains a concoction of cultures. As it prepares to celebrate the warmth of Lohri fire, the jovial greetings of Pongal and Bhogi, and the divine sight of Makara Vilakku, the festivals mark the end of winter solstice.