Importance of Ayyappa Cult

It is a new cult, the cult of the day, the cult of all days to come and cult for any
one irrespective of the religious sect one belongs to. It is a religion of all religions,
the quintessence of the best spoken moral, ethical, social and ethnological codes
hitherto known.
If Hinduism is a way of life followed by those who live in India and a philosophy
acceptable to all as its origin, history and evolution prove, Ayyappa cult is
undoubtedly the cream of the Santana Dharma, the eternal religion. Hinduism is
a confluence and configuration of a variety of faiths that sprang up in Indian soil
from pre-historic days. Consequently one is apt to look upon it as a reservoir of
variant and contradicting beliefs without caring to understand and appreciate the
underlying trend of unity in its apparent diversity. In its crude aspect there are the
relics of animism, tree-worship, phallic worship and snake-cult on one side
making it rather a faith of the uncultured and uncivilised race. At the same time it
shows altogether a different phase in its most developed and sophisticated form.
The concept of an impersonal god, namely Paramtma, Nirgunabrahma or
Virtpurusa is something not achieved by any religion in the world. The best of
Indian philosophical thoughts have their origin in this highest and most abstract
concept of God. Little do others care to go through these higher and more
sublime aspects of Hinduism with the result that the intrinsic merits of Indian
philosophy are very often overlooked or ignored.
The history and evolution of Ayyappa Cult will reveal that it is the most simplified
and elegant form of Hinduism made practical and acceptable to one and all. It will
again prove that Hinduism is no religion in its ordinary sense of the word, but the
most welcome practical way of life.
Ayyappa, the deity of the Dravidians
There is no mention of the name of Lord Ayyappa in any of the recognised
Puranas. Sasta, a synonym of Ayyappa, is found mentioned in a Vedic hymn, as
the killer of Jalandhara. In Mahabharata also the name of Sasta occurs. The
name of Ayyappa or Harihara Suta, the son of Hari and Hara, is nowhere found
as a deity admitted in the Purnaic pantheon.
Reseraches done in the history of south Indian rituals and religions unveil the fact
that Ayyan and Amman are the two most venerated deities of the ancient
Dravidians. Ayyan means literally a noble man, the term being a corruption of the
Sanskrit word Aryan. In Prakrit languages it becomes ajja, atta or ayya. In
Malayalam the term for father 'achan' obviously come from ajja, the corrupt word
of Arya. Therefore the term 'Ayyan' is now used as a word of respect to denote
father, revered person or brahmin. Adding the honorific formative 'ar' to Ayyan, it
becomes 'ayyanar, who is believed to be the guardian deity of the villages of
Tamilnadu. Even today you see temples of Ayyanar throughout Tamilnadu with
huge statues of the deity installed on horseback. As village-guardian this deity is
held in high esteem by the people. He is bestowed with many powers. People
going on a hunting trip to the forests offer prayers to him for their safe return. For
normal child delivery of the women in villages they make offerings to Ayyanar.

Journey by boats in rivers is to be solemnised by Ayyanar only. He is also the

god of the mercantile community. Thus there is no walk of life among the
villagers, which do not require the blessings of Ayyanar.
Amman, the mother-goddess of the Dravidians also looms large in the life of the
villagers. The concept of God, the almighty in the form of Mother and Father is as
ancient as could be. In the most developed form of Hinduism we have the
concept of Purusa, the man and Prakriti, the woman which has their roots in the
ancient Dravidan deities of Ayyan and Amman.
Lord Siva is supposed to be a Dravidian deity, later admitted into the Hindu
pantheon as one of Trinity. In fact Siva is Ayyan, the father god, and stories
woven around Siva show that He had to take on different forms on different
occasions for different purposes. When he took the form of an elephant, a son
was born to him and He is the Elephant deity, Ganapati. On another occasion he
became a hunter, Kirata, and the worship of hunter god is still continued in south
India, especially in Kerala, where he is rightly named as Vettekkaran, literally the
hunter God. Vettakkorumakan, the son of hunter god, is but a different concept of
the same deity. In many Ayyappa temples, this form of the deity is worshipped.
The deity is bestowed with a bow and arrow,and he is seated either on horse
back or an elephant. Thus the vehicle (Vahana) of the deity is found changed
from horse to elephant, both being symbols of hunting. In short, it won't be
improper if Lord Siva and Ayyan are identified. Later the two gods were
separated and given individual status, when Lord Siva retained his position as
father and Ayyanar or Ayyan as son. Father and son in Christian Trinity are
same; and in this context it is no wonder that Kirata Murti or Hunter God is
sometimes identified with Siva and at other times as Ayyanar, the son of Siva.
When Saivism developed as an independent and powerful faith under the banner
of Hinduism, Ayyanar got a completely independent status in the pantheon as the
son of Siva. Thus he is rightly known as Harasuta, of Sivaputra, literally the son
of Lord Shiva
Ayyanar, the son of Hari
Nowhere in any country is there an identical story of a child being born to two
men without a woman's share in it! It happened in the case of the history of the
Lord Ayyanar. This unnatural phenomenon may look ugly, unwholesome and
unbelievable as it should be. Nevertheless, we are to understand legends and
stories in a particular context, especially when they occur in a Purana or Itihasa,
as suggestive of some higher motive or symbolic of an incident or ideology. In
this context it is quite clear that there is the confluence of the two tenets of South
India, the Saivism and Vaishnavism. They were always at loggerheads albeit
their place in the Hinduism was undoubted and unquestionable. And, Hinduism
,as we have already noted, is apparently a puzzle to many and inherently the
most rational a philosophy.
When a happy blending of the Saivism and Vaishnavism was felt to be an
indispensable need, Ayyanar, the Dravidian deity came to its rescue. The deity
was ready to be born as the son of Vishnu as well. The ingenuity of the people

who felt the need inevitable invented a beautiful episode explaining the birth of
Ayyanar from Siva and Vishnu. They drew their inspiration from Puranas in which
they discovered two occasions when Lord Vishnu had to take the incarnation of a
woman.
The Story of the churning of the Milky Ocean
The story is too well known to be narrated. Indra, the king of Devas, grew
arrogant once, and went to the extent of using his weapon, Vajrayudha, against
the Mount Kailasa the abode of Lord Siva. Puffed up with pride he proceeded to
the Mount on his vehicle, Airavata, the divine elephant. The sage Durvasas, who
was pleased with Indra for his act of making flying mountains stand still by cutting
their wings (for, according to Puranas the mountains had wings) with his weapon,
gave him a divine garland made of the flowers of Kalpaka tree, Indra, seated on
his elephant, on his victorious journey to Kailas, placed the garland on his
elephant's head. The fragrance of the garland attracted wild beetles which
troubled the elephant who in fury pulled the garland down and tore it into pieces.
Durvasas, the angry sage, cursed Indra and all his subjects to be the victims of
old age, which the divine beings never knew till then This curse of Durvasa is the
will of Lord Siva who was disturbed very much as he saw Indra proceeding to
Mount Kailas.
The only way out to save the divine beings from growing old and suffering from
the pangs of old age was to taste Amrita, the `butter' of the milky ocean. The
Devas and Asuras joined hands in the laborious task of churning the ocean. And
when the Amrita came out, the Asuras made away with it. In order to get back the
same for Devas, Lord Visnu took the form of an enchantress, called Mohini, and
approached Asuras. `He' or rather `She' was successful in the mission and got
back the Amruta.
Lord Siva heard the story of Vishnu taking the attire of Mohini. He wished to see
him in that attire. Vishnu, of course, discouraged him, but Siva insisted upon his
desire to see `Her', and Vishnu appeared before him in the attire of Mohini and
was embraced by the Lord.
The puranic story ends with this incident. Lord Vishnu, it is said in Puranas,
somehow released himself from the emotional grip of Lord Siva and ran away.
Then Siva realised the folly and returned to Kailas.
This interesting episode was well exploited by a few and they made the best use
of the occasion to bring out a child from both. And thus Lord Ayyanar or Ayyappa
was born as Hariharasuta, the son of Visnu and Siva.

The Bhasmasura Episode

Another occasion when Vishnu took the part of an enchantress (Mohini) is
narrated in a simpler, but more interesting story. One Asura, demanded of Siva, a
boon to enable him to turn any one into ashes by the touch of his fore finger. Lord
Siva granted him the boon. The Asura wanted to test the power of the boon on
the spot, and he found no better person than the Lord himself who had granted
him this disastrous boon! The Lord took to his heels. The Asuras touch was sure
to turn him to ashes. Then came Lord Vishnu to his rescue. Vishnu immediately
changed himself to an attractive woman and stood before the Asura who in no
time, forgot not only Lord Siva but also himself. Mohini invited him for a joint
dance and asked him to imitate her in all poses. The Asura readily agreed. They
danced together. Whatever poses Mohini took, the Asura immediately and
successfully imitated.
At last Mohini stood in a particular pose placing her forefinger on her head, which
act the Asura also did to see himself instantaneously reduced to ashes. Now Lord
Siva relieved of the dangerous plight wished to see Lord Vishnu in Mohini's form.
Both the Gods joined in an embrace when a child was born to them. This episode
known as Bhasmasura Vadham occurs in a Purana which unfortunately is again
silent about the birth of Ayyanar.
That in none of the recognised Puranas occurs the story of the birth of Ayyappan
or Ayyanar or at least that no son was born to Mohini from Siva, is sufficiently
supported by `Narayaniyam' of Metpatur Narayana Bhattatiri, who was a Keralite
and who lived in the 16th century AD. In `Narayaniyam' there is a reference of
Lord Siva embracing Vishnu Maya (Mohini), and Mohini running away from him.
Had Bhattatiri known about the origin of Ayyappa from Mohini, he would definitely
have referred to the same. Absence of evidence is indeed no evidence to
disprove the existence of a fact.
Ayyappan In Tiyyattu
In Ayyappan temples of North Kerala (the erstwhile Malabar District) a ritual
known as Ayyappan Tiyattu is enacted annually on special occasions when the
story of Ayyappan is narrated in a particular form of hymns. The ritual is very
ancient one as is seen from the language of the hymns and also ascertained from
reference to the same elsewhere in antiquated ritualistic dance drama of the
Namputiri Brahmins, known as Sanghakkali of Yatra Kali. There is no reason why
such an old episode about the birth of Ayyappan is kept unknown or
unrecognized by a poet like Bhattatiri. The only explanations that could be offered
is that Ayyappan or Ayyanar being a pure Dravidian deity vanished unrecognized
by the Brahminical elite of the country. Namputiri brahmins believe in Vedic and
Puranic pantheon only. There are innumerable instances of Dravidian deities like
Kali, Nagas (Serpents), Matan etc, were not originally treated as first rate gods to
be propitiated directly by the Namputiri Brahmans. It took years of cold war
between the Brahmans and Non-Brahmans for them to come to an agreement in
the matter of giving recognition to the indigenous South Indian deities. Even
today there are many shrines in Kerala dedicated to the Dravidian deities, where
Non-Brahman priests perform the `Pujas'. Though some Namputiri homes have

serpents as their family deities, it is only once e a year that the majority of serpent
shrines spread all over the country receive `puja' offerings from a Namputiri
priest. It is noteworthy that even major temples like Kotunnalur have only nonNamputiri priests and non-caste Hindus are annually given a chance to `own'
such temples keeping away, for a day or two, the usual Vedic methods of
offerings. Thus it is clear from many of the smaller instances that there was a
cleavage between the indigenous Dravidian deities and those belonging to the
all-Indian Aryan pantheon. Ayyanar is one among them, hence the absence of
any reference to his birth and history in any of the so called recognised versions
of Puranas.
Sasta Worship
It is again interesting and revealing a fact to know that the Tamil Brahmins settled
in Kerala have Sasta as their village deity. It is the custom among them to
conduct a propitiation ceremony to this deity annually. In congregation the Tamil
Brahmins settled in Kerala have their residence (or Matan as they call it) in
`cluster' as against the Kerala style of compound houses. These Brahminical
residences are called `Samuham Mathams'. literally `the collective houses', which
system they have imported from Tamilnad where they live in adjacent street
houses forming themselves into a separate group in a village. Naturally every
village will have its guardian deity, Ayyanar, as we have seen. And this Ayyanar
is termed by Brahmins as Sasta. Today Sasta has become a synonym to
Ayyanar or Ayyappan, and both these names find no difference in their
implication.
The Budha and Sasta
Sasta is a well known synonym of the Buddha as stated in Amarakosa, the
Sanskrit dictionary. "Munindra Srighana Sasta" occurs in the list of synonyms of
the Buddha. Is Ayyappa Sasta identical with the Buddha? This question has been
posed by many and, there are many points in favour of identifying both. The
Ayyappa devotees always resort to the holy pronouncement of "Ayyappa
Saranam" "Swamiye Saranam" and "Saranam Ayyappa". The protagonists of this
theory belive that the Ayyappa devotees have adopted the `Saranantraya'
principle of the Buddhism. Moreover the Ayyappa devotees making a pilgrimage
to Sabarimala temple keep up their celibacy, wear coloured cloth (although of a
different colour), consider every one equal and have no distinction of caste,
colour, creed and religion, all of which have some similarity with the Buddhistic
way of ascetic life. Some Ayyappa temples in Kerala have the idols of Ayyappa
almost alike the Buddha idol.
In spite of these apparent similarities one can easily dispense with the theory
identifying the Buddha with Ayyappa on the ground that the Ayyanar cult is
definitely anterior to Buddhism and that the few similarities now noticed may be
due to the inherent nature of the Ayyanar cult to imbibe in it various faiths that
have sprung up in South India in different ages, which will be discussed
elsewhere.

Ayyappan of the Ayyappan folk songs

The most authentic version of the story of Ayyappa in its variant forms is to based
on the materials available from a collection of innumerable folk-songs called
Ayyappan Pattu. The authorship of these songs is rather unknown. They are
written by village poets in different periods, drawing inspiration from puranic,
legendary and historic episodes prevalent in the country, All songs are in
Malayalam, a few of which have the tint of Tamil-Malayalam. They are even
today sung with the accompaniments of a tiny percussion instrument called
`utukku'. a miniature "dhakka" on the occasion of a ritualistic ceremony known as
Ayyappan Vilakku, usually conducted during the Mandalam period (from the 1st
of the Malayalam month Vrischikam to continue for forty one days). It is during
this period that thousands of pilgrims wear the "mudra" or "symbol" of Ayyappa in
the form of a bead necklace and take a vow of severe ascetic life for the whole
period of forty one days. Each pilgrim, if he is a "maiden or virgin devotee" as is
styled to mean that he or she is undertaking the pilgrimage for the first time, has
to conduct this ritualistic ceremony viz "Ayyappa Vilakku". (The details of this
ceremony is given elsewhere).
Let us now have a glimpse of the various episodes as gleaned from the folksongs. They may be classified under three convenient heads, viz, the puranic,
the legendary and historical.
The Puranic
The Puranic version of the folk song is the same as we have already discussed
before. The story of the churning of the Milky Ocean, Lord Vishnu taking the
incarnation of Mohini, the enchantress, and Lord Shiva begetting a child from
Mohini are narrated in detail in one set of songs. In another set the Brahmasura
episode is narrated. Whatever be the circumstances under which the Lord Visnu
took the incarnation of Mohini, the main motif of their narration in folk-songs is to
give a puranic status and prestige to the birth of Lord Ayyappan.
The incarnation of any god shall not be without a need for the same. The folk
song gives us a beautiful story which necessitated the birth of a child under
these curious circumstances. It is the story of Datta and Lila. Datta was leading
the life of an ascetic when his wife Lila tried to pull him down to the level of an
ordinary man. She expressed her desire to copulate with him at an untimely hour
when he was performing his puja. The husband got angry and cursed her to
become a she-buffalo, Mahishi. The wife retorted by cursing him to become a
buffalo, and thus they wandered in the thick forests as buffalo couples. Mahishi,
then came to know that Mahisasura, her brother was killed by Candika, the
Goddess Kali. To avenge his death she approached Sukra, the preceptor of
Asuras for his advice. He asked her to do severe penance and get her boons
from Brahman. Brahman was then propitiated and when he appeared before
Mahishi at the climax of her penance he offered her any boon other than 'freedom
from death'. Mahishi thought for a moment and pinning her faith on an
impossibility, as she thought it would be, she suggested to Brahman that none
except a son born to Hari and Hara who would have served a King on earth for a
period of twelve years, alone could have killed her. The Brahman granted her the

boon. She then extended her disastrous activities to the other worlds and also
began threatening the Devas, sages and all good men. They discussed seriously
a way out to save themselves from the terror of Mahishi. It was at this time the
churning of the Milky ocean took place, and Mohini begot a child, Ayyappan, from
Lord Siva.
Ayyappa's Stewardship
The king believed it to be a god given child and he brought him up with all royal
care and comforts that could be spared for him. Everyone in the royal family and
around liked Manikanta. He became an expert in the art of archery and especially
fencing . The teacher who was entrusted with the work of tutoring the prince soon
found out that the boy had nothing to be taught but everything to teach others! In
the meantime a son was born to the king of Pandalam and now began the
calamity in the inner apartments of the royal family. The minister was nurturing a
secret hatred towards Manikanta who, in his opinion, stood now in the way of his
usurping the throne, as the king was to die without an heir apparent. The minister
now, somehow, wanted to do away with Manikanta, and had been plotting
against him. Now that a real heir-apparent to the throne was born, he did not
waste time to poison the mind of the queen against Manikanta.
The minister was at last successful in winning the queen to his side. She was
tutored well to pretend stomach pain (according to some, head ache only) and
the royal physician was bribed to prescribe fresh leopard's milk as an antidote.
Everything went on well as planned by the wicked minister. The queen pretended
pain, the physician was called for, the disease was named a fatal one by him
and that there was only one remedy ie fresh milk of a leopard. The remedy was
more dangerous and certainly more fatal than the disease! There was no one to
bring fresh leopard's milk. Unless milching leopardess with her cubs was not
brought by some one, fresh milk was an impossibility! Now Manikantan appeared
on the scene. He volunteered to bring any number of leopards. Everyone was
astonished. None thought that he prince was so daring. The minister felt happy
over this development, for he expected only this turn of event. He was now
assured of the imminent death of the Prince in the forest.
Manikanta started. He went to the neighbouring wilderness. Mahishi was
wandering there. His first mission was to kill her and achieve the goal of his
incarnation. A fierce fight took place between Manikanta and Mahishi at the
climax of which Mahishi met with her doom at the hands of Manikanta,, the son of
Siva and Vishnu, as was destined. ThenManikanta brought a herd of milching
leopardesses with their cubs to the palace. The angry leopardess tore the
wicked minister to pieces. She did not spare the palace physician too. Every one
in the Pandalam palace was then convinced of the divinity of Manikanta.Having
thus achieved the goal of incarnation Manikanta took leave of the King and
expressed his desire to build a temple at Sabarimala. The temple was installed
and
Manikanta
became
one
with
the
idol
of
Sasta
or
Ayyappa.

Numerous Episodes
The main trend of the story of Ayyappa as gleaned from the folk songs is as
shown above. These songs afforded us a good variety of interesting anecdotes of
Ayyappan. In fact all these songs put together form themselves as "Ayyappa
Purana" if it can be called so. The writer has collected almost all such songs, and
at least hundreds of anecdotes worthy of studying and scrutinising for a
comprehensive knowledge of Ayyappa saga in Kerala. Just an outline of a few
such anecdotes are given here for the readers to grasp an idea of their nature.
Vavar Episode
Ayyappan, during his stewardship under the king of Pandalam befriended a
Muslim hero Vavar by name who was later deified and given a worthy place in
front of the Sabarimala shrine. Vavar's story has its own charm and significance.
Of all the anecdotes this occupies an important place.
Vavar was born in Takrittan Tottam, perhaps Turkistan as it stands to our ears.
His father was one Alikkutty who married Pattumma(Fatima), the daughter
Seydale and Biyattu. When Vavar was born there was a terrible famine in his
country. Paddy fields failed their crops. Millet and wheat were available in
abundance. Vavar had to be fed with wheat and millet only. He had his education
both in Holy Quran and in the three `Rs'. As an intelligent boy, he became an
authority in all branches of studies including the art of archery, fencing and even
ship-building. He received lessons in black magic too, which helped him very
much in his later life which was full of adventures.
He was known as Vavar, the lame-footed, as his legs were slightly bent even at
the time of his birth. When he grew up he expressed his desire to go abroad a
ship which he managed to build himself, and the parents, though reluctant gave
him their permission.
Vavar's adventurous career commences with his voyage in the Arabian sea.
Gathering a few faithful friends who were equally well versed in the art of fencing
and archery, he manned his boat towards the land of pepper and other precious
condiments. It is said that he landed first at Kayamkulam, a coastal country in
Kerala, then an independent principality ruled by a petty king. Vavar and his men,
when they landed at Kayamkulam, were looked upon by the natives as sea
pirates, and they got scared. In fact, Vavar's intention was only to make some
adventurous expeditions, exploring new countries, exploiting the rich to help the
poor and the the needy. The king of Kayamkulam sought the help of the King of
Pandalam who deputed the prince Manikantan to face the sea pirate. An
encounter took place between Vavar and the prince. They fought for three days
continuously. None won. None was defeated. Mutually realising the greatness of
each other, the two opponents stopped their fight and were united in a friendly
embrace. Thenceforth both Ayyappan and Vavar behaved like brothers sharing
amongst themselves the offerings made to them by their devotees. Even today
the pilgrims to Sabarimala shrine make their offerings first to Vavar, the Muslim
saint and then to Ayyappa.

A Trip to Ceylon
Ayyappa made a trip to Ceylon, the then name of which was Ilam. As he had to
cross the ocean he requested his father at Kailas to build a ship for him. The best
of woods were cut and brought to build a ship. The ship was first put to sail in a
river which led to the sea. Ayyappa sailed to the island which was then inhabited
mostly by wicked demons or Asuras. The king of Ceylon was a good man, whose
daughter, it is said in the song, kept a toddy shop! Ayyappa and his men went to
her, requested her to give him toddy. She demanded cash. Ayyappa was
penniless. She refused his request point blank. Then Ayyappa turned aside,
caught the disc of the setting sun and pledged the same with her for cash
payment next day. Receiving the pawn of gold disc the princess gave them
enough of drinks. Next day Ayyappa came to the shop and demanded the gold
disc he had pawned. The poor princess searched for it, but alas, she couldn't find
it anywhere! she did not know that the gold disc was the sun and in the morning
the sun was to go on duty to illuminate the world. She was puzzled, and
approached her father who gave Ayyappa gold equivalent to the weight of the
disc lost. Thus collecting enough of gold Ayyappa returned home.
Punkhoti Episode
Punkhoti is the daughter of the king of Pandya country. One day Ayyappa
decided to meet her and decided to be her steward. Ayyappa had a wooden
sword called `Churika' as his inseparable weapon of which he was really proud.
He wanted this Churika to be seen by Punkhoti whom he expected to admire his
handling the same. In the presence of many valorous princes Ayyappan exhibited
his talents, which Punkhoti watched with admiration. She invited Ayyappan to her
palace. They spent a night together, and in the morning when Punkhoti woke up
she saw to her dismay that Ayyappan, her lover had abandoned her, she shed
tears, accosted her parrots to take her message to her Lord. The parrots flew off
with the message and returned Not ! Punkhoti remained still a virgin.
Udayana Episode
Udayana is a tribal chief who had a fort at Karimalai near Sabariamalai. The
relics of the fort are still there. His aim was to destroy the Sabarimalai shrine and
bring down the powers of the royal family of Pandalam, which was invincible as
long as Sabarimalai shrine remained untampered and the idol in the Sanctum
Sactorum is kept in all its sanctity.
Ayyappan or Sastha, the presiding deity of the Sabarimalai shrine , felt that the
king of Pandalam should be made to conduct the annual Makara Sankramam
festival in all its glory, which act alone could attract more devotees to the sacred
mount. People in those days were rather reluctant to go to Sabarimalai for fear of
the guerrila warfare being waged by the gang lord Udayana (the tribal chief).
Now Ayyappan decided to crush the power of Udayanan and make the people of
Pandalam realise the importance of Makara Sankramam. It was at this juncture
that Udayanan led an army against Pandalam king who could not face the enemy
with his men. Ayyappan appeared before the king as a youth, ready to fight with

Udayanan and defeat him on the condition that the king in return should see that
the Makara Sankrama festival is conducted every year properly. The King
joyfully and gratefully accepted the offer. All alone Ayyappan faced Udayanan
and his army and brought doom to both. Thenceforth the King of Pandalam made
it a sacred duty of his to visit Sabarimala every year on the day of Makara
Sankramam together with his people.
Ayyappan's Marriage
There is yet another puzzling episode narrated in another song called
'Malassevam', literally the song on garland. Ayyappan heard about a girl in Aryan
country (in the song she is simply styled as Aryan girl, which seems to be very
significant). He got the blessings of his father, Lord Siva to go to the Aryan land
and, marry the girl. Clad in pure white cloth, and holding a silver vessel in his
hand he proceeded to the land of his fiance. When he reached her land he was
told that no 'man' was permitted to go near her. She was in her inner apartments,
surrounded by many women attendants. The main entrance to her house was
under the guard of watch and ward men, Ayyappan luckily got the co-operation of
an old woman who used to supply the girl fresh garland of flowers every day. The
old woman being very much impressed with Ayyappan, handed over the 'day's
garland' to him and advised him to proceed to her house as a garland vendor.
Though the watch and ward vehemently protested his entry into the house, the
heroine when told by her maidens about a wonderful-garland vendor waiting at
the gate, desired to see him in person. Ayyappan was thus allowed inside. As
soon as he saw the 'Aryan Lady', he threw the garland at her and the garland
whirling round and round finally adorned her neck. The garlanding ceremony was
done. The song stops with this incident, and no further description of events is
seen in it.
The Historical Version
The third and most notable version on Ayyappa is one in which he is viewed as
an historical person. This concept of Ayyappan has its own implication and
importance, the same being the most rational and trustworthy.
Both in puranic and legendary versions of the story of Ayyappan the king of
Pandalam plays an important role. The history of the royal family of Pandalam
clearly reveals the fact that the Ayyappa episode connected with the families
cannot be placed before the 12th Century A.D. The principality of Pandalam
came to existence only in the 12th century. It happened definitely during or after
the hundred years war waged between Cholas and Pandyas. It is recorded in the
family history of Pandalam that it is an off-shoot of Pandyan royal family, settled
in the forest area of the Western Ghats, that later founded a
Pandalam.
The Sasta shrine at Sabarimala had been there from time immemorial as the
guardian deity of the people and rulers in and around forest area. When
Pandalam dynasty was established the then king accepted the Sasta at
Sabarimala as his family deity and ruled the newly formed principality as a
devotee of Sasta.

It was at this time that a tribal chief Udayanan, whose fort was at Karimalai Mount
near Sabarimala destroyed the shrine of Sasta to bring down the might of the
king of Pandalam, for it was believed that the king of Pandalam would be
invincible as long as Sabarimala shrine remained in all its sanctity and prosperity.
His next intention was to attack the land of Pandalam, which was cleverly and
successfully battled by the timely interference of a Namputiri youth, son of the
chief priest of Sabarimalai shrine. Somehow Udayanan escaped with the sister of
the king of Pandalam, who was later on saved from the villain by the very same
Namputiri youth.
The story thereafter, is really interesting and to some extent mysterious too. It is
said that the Namputiri youth married the princess of Pantalam by Gandharva
system and a son born to them was named after the deity of Sabarimalai. He was
known as Ayyappan Manikantan, and was brought up by the parents living
incognito in a cave at Ponnampala Mount, very close to Sabarimala.
Ayyappan was given adequate training both in scriptures and warfare by his able
father, the Namputiri. It was the intention of the father to bring him up in perfect
military discipline with sufficient background in spiritual matters.
When Ayyappan finished his spiritual and physical education his father thought
that it was the ripe time for him to be sent to his own palace. All details about his
birth and bringing up were written in a letter addressed to the king of Pandalam.
He sent Prince Ayyappan to his uncle's palace. Of course the king felt over
joyous when he came to know about his sister, believed to be lost for ever. At the
same time he could not recognize openly the prince Ayyappa as his own nephew
for fear of social ostracism. The king was thus forced to keep to himself the
identity of his own nephew.
Ayyappan, the young prince was a pet to one and all except to the minister and a
few of his confederates. The minister had his own reason to grow jealous of the
prince. Really he wanted to usurp the land of Pandalam as the king had no legal
heir-apparent by the disappearance of the queen, the only sister of the ruler.
When Ayyappan was declared as the 'Prince of Wales' by the king, the minister
received a shock, and thenceforth he began spreading scandals about the prince.
It was at this time that Ayyappan had an encounter with the Muslim hero Vavar,
who became his best friend. He co-operated with the prince to do away with the
undesirable elements in the country. Once the minister was actually caught red
handed by the twin brothers, Ayyappan and Vavar, when he tried to establish
alliance with Udayanan, the villain of the story. Of course the minister was
pardoned although he was then marked as a fifth columnist by Ayyappan.
The minister wasted no time to work out his plans to oust the prince out of the
country. He slowly approached the consort of the king and poisoned her mind
against Ayyappan. The mother queen who had no child had loved Ayyappan so
much that none could move her against the pet of the king. Knowing her
mentality thoroughly well, the clever and scheming minister conspired to her an
ugly news that this youth, now being made the next heir apparent to the throne,
was an illegitimate son of the king from a low caste Marava woman. This was

beyond the endurance of the queen. At the instance of the minister she agreed to
be seriously ill with acute stomach ache. The wicked minister, by the time,
managed to influence an equally wicked physician who prescribed a curious
remedy, a cup of fresh milk of leopard. Every one was startled at this, and the
prince knowing the situation thoroughly volunteered to bring any number of milch
leopards.
Prince Ayyappan could easily bring a few milch leopard to the palace. Being born
and brought up in the wilderness, no wild beast was a terror to him and he knew
how to tame them, control them, and thus by his physical and spiritual powers he
convinced all present there, that there is nothing which man could not achieve.
Every one was so much surprised and terrified that all of them in one voice cried
out "Saranam Ayyappa' to mean `refuge at the feet of Lord Ayyappa'. Prince
Ayyappa, then advised the king to install the idol de-consecrated by Udayanan.
On the first day of the month of Makaram when the sun moved from the zodiac of
Dhanus to that of Makaram, the re-installation of the idol was ceremoniously
conducted. Soon after the ceremony was over, it is said, the prince Ayyappa
disappeared and is still believed by the devotees that he has become one with
the Lord of Sabarimala. Thenceforth on this particular auspicious day the
devotees led by the king of Pandalam made it a regular routine to visit
Sabarimalai and make offerings to the Lord.
The Implications and Importance of Ayyappa Cult
Having acquainted ourselves with the different episodes on Ayyappa from various
sources, it would be now easy for us to make a thorough analysis of the entire
subject matter in more rational and convincing a perspective. Writings that have
come to us from pre-historic days, beginning with Vedas, believed to be
impersonal, appeal to our common sense if only their symbolic significance is
thoroughly understood. Vedas, Puranas, Itihasas, Epics and later literary works
including those connected with folklore are to be interpreted in their own true
perspective. When one is to admit that language itself is a symbolic art, the
literary writing sprouted out of this symbolic expression of our emotion, becomes
more complex a symbolic art. Still more complex are the Puranas, which apart
from being literary, bespeak something beyond what they mean literally.
Therefore it is the symbolised import that is to be sought for, for a clear
comprehension of any puranic theme.
One striking feature about Ayyappan is that he seems to be a deity for all times,
for all people and all faiths. Evolving the deity for the ancient concept of
Ayyappan as the guardian of villages, he has passed through many stages of
development in concordance with the evolutionary history of the south Indian
religious movements from time immemorial. Among Saivites he was adored as
the son of Siva; the Vaishnavites looked upon him as the son of Vishnu. When
there was a need felt for the union of both the sects he was made the son of both
Siva and Vishnu, for which a strange phenomenon to look somewhat natural, the
latter was made a woman deity. There were two occasions in the Puranas when
Vishnu took the form of a woman, and both the occasions were exploited by the
writers to find a mother for Ayyappan. This explains the `why' of a deity born to

two men gods. There is nothing wrong with the conception when it is viewed in
this context.
Moreover, a better more rational explanation could be given to this strange origin
of the deity from two men gods, Siva and Vishnu. Saivism, as is well known,
stands for the austere aspects of devotional life. It is associated with rather grim
and grotesque things around us, like a garland of skulls, tripod, dance in
cremation ground, bull, demons, snakes ashes, drum (dhakka), matted hair etc.
Lord Siva stands for the destructive phase of the concept of Trinity in Hinduism
and it is no wonder that Saivism has a gloom and morbid atmosphere around it.
On the other hand Vaishanvism has all the best of human comforts and source of
enjoyments associated with it. Lord Vishnu is the protective phase of the Trinity,
and hence the concepts around him associated with the bright and pleasant
things like Vaikuntha, Milky Ocean, garland of multi-forest-flowers (Vanamala),
conch, lotus, saffron, silk cloth, flute, dance etc. Maternal care and affection
always go with the faculty of protection, security and safety, and this explains why
Lord Visnu was thought of being pictured as the `mother'.
Now it is clear as it is self-explanatory too, to think of a deity imbibing in himself
both the protective and destructive aspects of the universe, to effect a balancing
of the two opposite forces. The very nature of the universe is its power of keeping
both these forces in their proper balancing. Lord Ayyappa, as conceived thus, is
only the symbol and the only symbol of the true nature of the Universe. And
hence he is both the God-Universe and Universal God.