Bhagwan Ayyappa

01The son of Hari and Hara

Mahishi, sister of Mahishasura, had a boon that only a son of Shiva and Vishnu could kill her. When Vishnu took the form of Mohini, Shiva was drawn to her, and Shasta was born. The child was found by the childless King Rajasekhara of Pandalam on the banks of the Pampa, wearing a bell at his neck, and named Manikandan. When the queen, wanting her own son to rule, feigned illness and asked for tigress’s milk, the boy went into the forest, slew Mahishi, and came back riding a tigress.

02The forty-one-day vow

The pilgrimage to Sabarimala begins weeks before the climb. Devotees wear a black or blue mundu and a tulsi or rudraksha mala, keep strict brahmacharya, eat simple vegetarian food and call one another Swami, for in the vow every pilgrim is Ayyappa. They carry the irumudi on their heads, a two-part bundle with a ghee-filled coconut for his abhisheka. Only those who have kept the vow climb the eighteen sacred steps, the Pathinettam Padi. On the way, at Erumeli, pilgrims also honour Vavar, held to be Ayyappa’s companion.

03Mandala and Makaravilakku

Sabarimala opens for the Mandala season from mid-November, ending with the Mandala Puja, and again for Makaravilakku at Makar Sankranti, when the Thiruvabharanam, the sacred ornaments, are carried in procession from Pandalam and a light appears on Ponnambalamedu across the valley. The temple sits on a hilltop in the Periyar forest and is managed by the Travancore Devaswom Board. Kerala also has older Shasta shrines at Kulathupuzha, Aryankavu and Achankovil, where he appears as child, youth and householder.

In the texts

• Bhutanatha Upakhyanam (Malayalam)
• Bhagavata Purana 8.12 (Mohini and Shiva)
• Harivarasanam (closing lullaby at Sabarimala)

Utsav: festivals