Synopsis : A non-existent custom is polluting the Pamba River in Kerala — the lifeblood of the state’s spiritual and cultural identity for centuries. Devotees, after having darshan at Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple, are throwing away their used clothes and beaded malas into the river is an offering, which subsequently stealthily mutated into a “ritual”.

Pamba — Kerala’s third-longest river and revered as the southern Ganga — has been the lifeblood of the state’s spiritual and cultural identity for centuries.

Rising from the mist-laden Pulachimalai hills of the Peermedu plateau in Idukki and cascading through forests enriched with rare medicinal flora, this sacred river carries legends, prayers, and history in every ripple.

Yet, today, the same waters that once symbolised purity a

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