Ayyappan- Hindu GodDeity"Lord of Dharma"
Also known as: Dharma Shasta, Manikandan, Hariharaputra, Sastha, അയ്യപ്പന്, and अय्यप्पन्
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Symbols
Description
Son of Shiva and Mohini, Vishnu's female form, born for the sole purpose of slaying a demoness no other being could touch. Abandoned as an infant on the banks of the Pampa River with a golden bell tied around his neck, he was raised by a mortal king who never guessed what he had found.
Mythology & Lore
Divine Birth
The demoness Mahishi, sister of Mahishasura, had obtained a boon: only a son born of Shiva and Vishnu could kill her. Vishnu assumed the form of Mohini, the same female guise he had taken to reclaim the amrita after the churning of the ocean. Shiva united with Mohini, and from that union Ayyappan was born.
The Foundling King
According to Kerala tradition, the divine infant was placed on the banks of the Pampa River with a golden bell around his neck, which gave him the name Manikandan. King Rajashekhara of the Pandalam dynasty, childless and praying at the river, found the baby and adopted him as his heir. The boy grew up displaying extraordinary skill in arms and learning.
When the queen bore a biological son, court intrigues followed. The queen, influenced by the minister, feigned illness and demanded tiger's milk as the only cure, hoping the forest would kill the boy.
Mahishi
Manikandan went into the forest for the tiger's milk and met the demoness Mahishi. He killed her. In the Kerala telling, Mahishi was a cursed celestial being who was freed by her death. Manikandan returned to Pandalam riding a tigress, tiger cubs trailing behind. Rajashekhara saw and understood. He fell at the boy's feet.
Sabarimala
Ayyappan asked that a temple be built for him on the hill of Sabarimala in the Western Ghats. The temple is approached through eighteen sacred steps. Only those who have observed the mandalavratha, forty-one days of celibate austerity and vegetarianism, are permitted to climb them. Pilgrims carry the irumudi, a two-compartmented bundle of offerings, on their heads. The annual Makaravilakku festival at the winter solstice draws millions to witness a celestial light on the distant Ponnambalamedu hill.