Capt. DP Singh meets Lord Ayyappa after four decades devotion
Capt. DP Singh meets Lord Ayyappa after four decades devotion
Captain DP Singh Aujla retired Navy pilot fulfills 40-year-old vow, visits Sabarimala temple with wife Binni Aujla, following a providential escape in 1985.
Captain D.P. Singh Aujla was exxited with emotion as he stood at the Sabarimala temple, holding Ayyappa close to his heart.
After over four decades wait, tears rolled down his eyes as he uttered, “Thank you, Lord Ayyappa, for giving him a second birth; for letting him see you.
The story of Captain Singh’s connection with Ayyappa dates back to May 18, 1985. It began amidst a high-stakes mission when Singh, then a helicopter pilot, was tasked with locating a missing Navy maritime surveillance aircraft in the dense forests of the Western Ghats. The plane, which had taken off from Kochi, disappeared in the Western Ghats, with two Malayali pilots aboard.
The search operation was both arduous and treacherous, spanning a full day across the Thekkady forests. As hours went by, Singh realised his helicopter was running critically low on fuel. But as the day wore on and the weather worsened, a field appeared amid the mountains, and Aujla made an emergency landing.
That night, alone in the wilderness, Singh found shelter near a single building that stood at Pampa. The area was deserted, likely because it was off-season, and not a single vehicle was in sight.
As Singh and his wife Binni Aujla approached the temple, Singh stopped the car in front of the Pampa bus stand and said, “Here it is,” the same place where he had sought refuge years ago. Reflecting on that night, Singh believes Ayyappa protected him. From that moment, he resolved to visit Sabarimala to offer his gratitude.
Now retired as the Chief Pilot of the Punjab Government and residing in Chandigarh, Captain Singh, along with his wife Binni Aujla, finally made the pilgrimage to Sabarimala.
The couple visited the temple on Tuesday from the house of Captain Sreenagesh B. Nair, a longtime colleague and native of Thiruvananthapuram.
News Edit KV Raman
