Irumudi: Ayyappa Mala Tracker

Irumudi is a calm companion for the forty-one days of the mandala vratham. It counts the days from the morning you wear the mala, keeps each day's observances, carries the prayers and a guide for first-timers, and helps you and your group get ready for the journey to Sabarimala.

THE FORTY-ONE DAYS Set the day you wear the mala and Irumudi counts the rest: day 17 of 41, how many days to day 41, how many to the trip. A mala of forty-one beads fills in as the days pass. A calendar shows every day at a glance, and you can open any day to fill in what you kept.

YOUR DAILY OBSERVANCES Bath before sunrise, morning and evening pooja, saranam chanting, simple vegetarian food, brahmacharya, sleeping on the floor, walking barefoot. Tick each one as the day goes. Practices differ by family, region and guru swami, so switch off what you do not follow and add your own. A day left blank simply stays blank. There are no streaks and no scores.

SARANAM COUNTER Tap anywhere on the screen to count. Rounds of 108, 1,008 or your own number. The screen stays awake while you chant, and today's count and your lifetime count are kept.

PRAYERS Ganapathi slokam, Dhyana slokam, the Saranam vili, Loka Veeram (Sastha Pancharatnam), Harivarasanam, the closing prayer, and the mantras for wearing and removing the mala. Each is written out in full, in your own script. Wordings differ from place to place; where they differ from what your guru swami teaches, follow your guru swami.

A GUIDE FOR KANNI SWAMIS Your first pilgrimage, step by step: before the mala, wearing the mala, the forty-one days, the irumudi kettu, the journey, the eighteen steps, and returning home.

POOJA REMINDERS A quiet reminder in the morning and the evening, at the times you choose. Off until you turn it on.

THE JOURNEY Set the trip date and the route: Pamba, the Erumeli forest path or Pulmedu. A link to the official virtual queue site, and a reminder on the day you plan to book. The expected season dates, which you can correct. Your stops on the way.

THE IRUMUDI AND PACKING LISTS The front pouch and the back pouch, item by item: the ghee coconut, rice, camphor and the rest. A packing list for clothes, papers, health and the road. Both are starting points; your guru swami decides what goes in, and you can edit every list.

TRAVELLING AS A GROUP For the swami who organises the jatha: the members, who is a kanni swami, whose irumudi is ready, the advance per head, the money collected and the money spent, and a notice for the kettu and the departure to send to the group's WhatsApp. The free group holds five members; Pro holds the whole jatha.

THE COMPLETION CARD On the forty-first day, make a card with your name and dates to share with family and friends.

IN YOUR LANGUAGE English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi, with the prayers in each language's own script.

QUIET AND PRIVATE No account and no sign-up. Works without a network, even on the forest path. Your record stays on your phone, and a backup file moves it to a new phone. There are no ads on the prayers, the counter or the day's observances.

IRUMUDI PRO One payment, no subscription. For group organisers: a group of any size, each member's share with who owes and who gets back, ready to send, two more card designs, and no ads anywhere. The vratham itself, the counter, the prayers, the guide, the lists and the reminders are free, and stay free.

Irumudi is an independent app. It is not connected with the Travancore Devaswom Board or the temple. Booking is done only on the official site.

Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa.