sri ayyappan -legend/history

December 15, 2005

swami sranam,

pls find below the legend and history of swami

ayyappan.This i got from the internet.i hope this will

answer the questions of some swamis like Vijay from

Malaysia etc.

saranam ayyappa.

Lord Ayyappan is a symbol of religious unity and

communal harmony. Being born out of Mohini (the female

incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and Lord Shiva, he is also

known as Bhuthanatha, Dharmasastha, Hariharan, Ayyanar

and Manikanta.

There are several temples dedicated to Lord Ayyappan

all over India. Among these the important temples

along the Western Ghats are: Kulathupuzha - Ayyappan

is a child here, Aryyankavu - He is a bachelor here,

Achankovil - here he is as Dharmasastha with Poorna

and Pushkala (his wives) Sabarimala - here he is a

yogi, meditating for the benefit of all.

Sabarimala temple is open to all, irrespective of

caste, creed, religion, social status or nationality.

The pilgrims undergo 41 days of fast to cleanse the

mind. He carries on his head, the holy ghee for the

Lord's Abisheka filled in coconut in " Irumudi " (two

compartment cloth bag). The temple is open only to

males and menopaused females (beyond 50 years of age)

and little girls below 10 years of age. This is

because the Lord is a chaste yogi in Sabarimala. The

male pilgrims are called 'Ayyappan' and the female

pilgrims are called 'Malikappuram'.

LEGEND

The descendants of Pandya dynasty discarded by

Thirumala Naicker Diwan of Raja Vijayanagar, who was

then ruling the Pandya Kingdom, comprising of

Madurai,Tirunelveli, Ramananthapuram, were living

scattered in places like Valliyur, Tenkasi,

Shengottah, Achankovil and Sivagiri. At that time,

Pandyas were ruling in many parts of Travancore. The

descendants of Pandya dynasty belonging to

Chempazhanattu Kovil, living in Sivagiri were given

the right to rule the country of Pandalam, by the King

of Travancore eight hundreds years ago. King

Rajasekara was the direct descendant of this dynasty.

King Rajasekara was very talented, courageous and just

in his deeds. People were living happily and

prosperously during his regime. However, the king was

very unhappy that he had no children and his subjects

were also worried that he had no heir to inherit his

kingdom. As per the wish of the queen, both of them

prayed Lord Shiva for blessing them with a child.

Mahishasuran, Son of Ramban, undertook a severe

penance (Dhavam). Lord Brahma tried to distract his

concentration, but having failed in his attempts, he

appeared before the Asura and blessed him with a boon.

Mahishasuran asked Lord Brahma to give him a boon by

which no man in the earth would be able to kill him,

and Lord Brahma conferred the boon on him.

Mahishasuran, armed with his boon, began to commit

atrocities and murders on the earth and terrorised

people. Fearing his wrath, people ran away to far away

places.

The Devas seeing the atrocities committed by

Mahishasuran came to the conclusion that only a divine

power could kill him and approached Chandikadevi

(Mahishasuramardhini) pleading to put an end to

Mahishasura who was misusing the boon given by Lord

Brahma. Chandikadevi set out on her mission and killed

Mahishasura in a duel, on earth.

Mahishi daughter of Karamba, brother of Ramban

undertook a severe penance in order to take revenge on

the Devas, who were responsible for the death of her

brother. Lord Brahma appeared and offered to confer on

Mahishi any boon except that of immortality. Mahishi

asked Lord Brahma to bless her with a boon by which

nobody, except the son created out of the union of

Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Haran), would be able to kill

her. Lord Brahma gave the boon and Mahishi went to

Devaloka and started harassing the Devas.

The Devas incurred the wrath of Durvasa Muni who

cursed them. On the advice of Lord Mahavishnu that

this curse could be removed only by administering

Amrutham taken from Palazhi, the devas took it from

the Palazhi, but the Asuras snatched it from them.

Lord Mahavishnu in the disguise of Mohini, went to the

Asuras and got back the Amrutham and restored it to

the Devas. When Lord Shiva, went to see Lord

Mahavishnu who was in the guise of a Mohini succumbed

to her beauty and out of their union, was born a

child, who was name Dharmasastha. Dharmasastha grew at

Kailasham. Lord Shiva, answered Rajasekara's prayer

and ordered Dharmasastha to take the avathar of

Ayyappan . On the day King Rajasekara went for hunting

in the forest, Ayyappan took the form of a baby with a

golden chain and bell around his neck and placed

himself near the Pamba river.

King Rajasekara went for hunting in the forest

adjoining the banks of River Pampa, along with his

men. He started hunting courageously in the dense

forest which was a sanctuary for many wild animals.

After that hunting was over, King Rajasekara advised

his men to take rest and sat there entertaining

himself with the sight of the natural greenish beauty

and the waterfalls, of the forest.

At that time, he heard a child crying from somewhere

in the forest. Surprised, he went round and reached

the banks of River Pampa. There he saw a beautiful and

divine child (i.e. Ayyappa) kicking its legs and

crying out, and was in a dilemma whether to take the

child to the Palace or leave it there itself.

While the King was engrossed in his thoughts, a

Sanyasi appeared before him and told the King that he

need not be afraid of the child and take him to the

Palace and that the child belonged to Kshatriya

dynasty capable of mitigating all sufferings. The

Sanyasi further stated that since the Child had a gold

bell around his neck, his name be called " MANIKANDAN "

and when the child completed twelve years, the King

would know his divine history. After uttering these

words, the Sanyasi disappeared.

The King of Pandalam was very joyous, he took the

child to his Palace and briefed the Queen about the

incident. The King and the Queen, having prayed to

Lord Shiva, for a child, were very happy that they had

been blessed with a child. The people also felt happy

that a heir to inherit the Kingdom after the King, has

been found. However, the Diwan of the Kingdom who was

thinking that he would be the next crown after

Rajasekara was worried.

When the child, named Manikandan, began to grow in the

Palace, everything began to prosper in kingdom. He was

taught all martial arts and sastras and the Guru was

surprised at his brilliance and agility and the

extraordinary talents. The Guru came to the conclusion

that he was not an ordinary child, but a divine power.

After completing his education under the Guru,

Manikandan approached the Guru to offer his Guru

Dakshina.

When Manikandan went to his Guru for his blessings,

the Guru told him that he already knew that he was a

divine power and he was blessed for having been given

an opportunity to have Manikandan as a student. The

Guru further told Manikandan that he had one request

to make and that was that his only son who was dumb

should be given speech. Manikandan called the Guru's

son and put his hands on his head and immediately

Guru's son had his speech. Manikandan requested the

Guru not to reveal this to anyone and went to the

Palace.

In the meanwhile, the Queen gave birth to a male child

and the child was named RajaRajan. King Rajasekara,

impressed with the talents of Manikandan, decided to

crown him, treating him as his eldest son. He ordered

the Diwan to make arrangements for the same. The Diwan

hated this and started devising plans to prevent

Manikandan from being crowned to the throne and to

annihilate him. He tried various methods including

poisoning of food, but failed in all these. However,

Manikandan's body bore an injury due to these and

ordinary physicians could not cure it. Lastly, Lord

Shiva disguising himself as a physician, treated

Manikandan's injury and cured him.

Having failed in all his attempts to kill Manikandan,

the Diwan approached the Queen and told her that she

had her own son, it was not correct to crown a person

who came from the forest. He further told the Queen

since Arthasastra itself has justified any misdeed if

it was done to extract a good thing, he would suggest

that the Queen should pretend as if suffering from

severe headache and stomach pain and he would make the

physician tell that only a tigress' milk should be

brought to cure the Queen and since Manikandan would

only go to the forest to bring the milk, he would be

in danger from the wild animals and even if Manikandan

returned without bringing the tigress' milk, the

King's love for him would not be as before. The Queen,

became a prey to the Diwan's plot and agreed to do

what he told, so that her son could succeed the King

to the throne.

The Queen, as told by the Diwan, cried out loudly that

she was suffering from severe headache and stomach

pain and the King, believing this, called the Diwan to

bring in the best physicians to treat her. The

Physician, brought by the Diwan examined the Queen and

told the King that the Queen had been suffering from a

dangerous disease and it could be cured only by

applying Tigress' milk .The King sent several of his

men to the forest for bringing this milk. The King

understood that it was an impossible task and wanted

his dear Queen to be cured at any cost and offered

half of his Kingdom to anybody who brought the Milk.

When the King was thinking about this, Manikandan

asked him to let him go to the forest promising to

bring the milk. However, the King told him that he was

awaiting to be crowned to the throne that he was also

not of age and hence refused to let him go. Manikandan

told the King, in spite of his refusal, he had to go

lest he would be cursed for not curing the Queen.

Since the King persisted in his refusal Manikandan

wanted the King to promise to do something he wanted.

The King gave the promise and asked him what he wanted

and immediately Manikandan asked the King to permit to

go to the Forest. The King felt disappointed that he

had been tricked and with no other alternative

permitted Manikandan to go to the forest.

King Rajasekara made arrangements to send a group of

his loyal men along with Manikandan, which however was

refused by Manikandan on the ground that the tigress

might run away seeing the crowd of soldiers. King

Rajasekara sent along with Manikandan necessary

foodstuffs and coconuts with three-eyes, in

remembrance of Lord Shiva. The Panchabuthas, sent by

Lord Shiva, accompanied Manikandan to Forest. However,

on his way Manikandan, came to know the atrocities of

Mahishi in the Devaloka, he went there and fought a

battle with Mahishi. During the conflict, Manikandan

threw Mahishi down to earth from devaloka and she fell

on the banks of Azhutha River. Manikandan clashed with

her at Azhutha river again.

At the end, of the battle between Mahishi and

Manikandan at Azhutha River banks, Manikandan climbed

up on her chest and danced violently. The impact of

his dance was felt on the Earth and Devloka and the

Devas were afraid. Mahishi knowing that the divine

power dancing on her body was none other than the son

of Hari and Haran, prostrated before Manikandan and

died. This dance was witnessed by Lord Shiva and

Mahavishnu from a place called Kalakatti. (It is said

that Leela, daughter of Kavalan, a Maharishi, due to

her husband's curse,was born as daughter of Karamban,

with a face of Mahishi and freed herself from the

curse and obtained Moksha by the grace of Shri Dharma

Sastha, which is described in Sabarimala Temple as

Malikapurathu Amma, by which name she has a temple

there)

After killing Mahishi, Manikandan went to the forest

for the tigress milk, when Lord Shiva appeared before

him and told him that though he had done good for the

Devas, still there was one main task and that was to

give comfort to the King Rajasekara who was very

concerned about him. Lord Shiva further told him that

he could go to the Palace with Lord Devendran in the

form of a tiger. With Manikandan on the tiger, all

female devas in the disguise of a tigress and male

Devas, as tigers started their journey to the Palace.

When Manikandan, with the tigers, approached the

Palace, the people who ridiculed him when the started

his journey to forest whether he wanted a toy

tigresses, really got panicky seeing the violent bunch

of animals and started running helter shelter.

Just then, the same Sanyasi who appeared before King

Rajasekara when he picked up Manikandan at the forest

as a baby, appeared again at the palace and told King

Rajasekara the real identity of Manikandan. Hearing

this, the King stood in great surprise and silence. He

saw Manikandan riding a tiger and people running away.

Seeing the King, Manikandan descended from the Tige

and told him that since the tigresses were there, he

could get the Queen cured with their milk. King

Rajasekara, fell at his feet and asked to forgive him

for whatever happened without his knowledge, and asked

him to send back the tigers as the Queens ailment had

been cured the moment Manikandan went to the forest.

On that day Manikandan reached the age of twelve.

King Rajasekara told Manikandan that the Diwan was

responsible for all these things and hence he should

be punished. However, Manikandan told the king that he

need not punish the Diwan and all had happened only

through the will of God, and he told further that time

had come for him to go to Devaloka since the task for

which he took avatar himself on the Earth is completed

and asked the King what boon he wanted from him and he

was ready to give it as he was much pleased by his

devotion. Immediately, King Rajasekara told him that

they wanted to raise a temple in his memory and

suggest a suitable place for the temple. Manikandan

aimed an arrow which fell at a place called Sabari,

where in Sri Rama's era a Sanyasini called Sabari

observed Dhavam. Lord Manikandan told the King to

build the temple in that place and then he

disappeared.

As per Saint Agasthya's advise, King Rajasekara laid

the foundation stone for the building the Sabarimala

Shrine. Bhagwan Manikandan, had made it clear that he

would grace only those devotees who offer Dharshan

after performing Vritha for fortyone days keeping

themselves isolated from family desires and tastes and

leading a life like Brahmacharya, thinking of good

things always, and that while coming for his darshan,

they shall carry the holy irumudi on their heads, as

the Bhagwan did when he went to the forest to fetch

tigress milk, and bathed in River Pampa raising

slogans of Saranam and climb the eighteen stairs.

As graced by the Bhagwan King Rajasekara completed

building of the temple with eighteen steps to reach

it. When the King was thinking how to put

Dharmasastha's figure in the temple for darshan to

devotees, he recalled the words of the Bhagwan, the

River Pampa was a holy river as River Ganga,

Sabarimala was a holy place as Kasi. Dharmasastha sent

Parasuraman to Sabarimala who carved the figure of

Lord Ayyappa and installed it on the day of

Makarasankranthi, the day on which the Makara Jothi

appears. Every year lakhs and lakhs of people throng

to Sabarimala irrespective of caste or creed and adorn

themselves with garlands and irumudis, chants slogans

on Lord Ayyappa, bathe in holy river Pampa, climb up

the eighteen steps and get the grace of Lord Ayyappa,

the Dharmasastha.

JEWEL CASKET

The Jewel Casket is carried on head from the ancestral

residence of the royal family of Panthalam to the

Shrine on the day. A Garuda, the Brahaman kite,

follows this ornaments carrying procession, hovering

about in the sky. After these ornaments are worn on

the Lord the bird circles the temple in the sky three

times and disappears. Excited by this sight the

devotees begin to chant " Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa " . A

Star never seen before in the sky appears on the day

of Makara Jothi day before the sighting of the Jyoti.

A Jyoti is seen for a little time on the hilltop

showing the presence of Swamy Ayyappan gracing his

devotees

FINALLY THE SO CALLED 'HISTORY'

About ten generations ago there lived a Vellala youth

by name AYYAPPAN know as AYYAN. We do not know

anything about his parents except that his uncle was

one Perisseri Pillai of Erumeli, Kottayam dist,

Kerala. Ayyan became the army chief of the Pandalam

royal family.

Ayyan, who belonged to the Vellalar Kulam, was

instrumental in the defeat of Udayanan, who attacked

the Sabarimala and tried to demolish the ancient

Sastha temple in the thick forest of present

Pathnamthitta dist.

The Royal family of King Pandian had migrated from

Tamilnadu about 800 years back. Pandian King

reconstructed the destroyed Sastha temple at

Sabarimala with the help of Ayyan, Vavar, a Muslim

youth from Kanjirappally, Kadutha, a Nair youth from

Muzhukeer, Chenganoor, Alapuzha dist.

During a clash Ayyappan was killed. Perissery Pillai,

uncle of Ayyan constructed the KOCHAMPALAM - old small

Sastha temple - at Erumeli, opposite the VAVAR PALLY

(MOSQUE), constructed by Muslims in memory of Vavar

swamy.

After the demise of Ayyappan people thought that he

was the avathar of Lord Sastha and began to worship

him. Later Ayyappan and Sastha became synonymous. Some

say that Ayyappan was the son of a Brahmin but

Nalankal Krishna Pillai in his book

" Mahashekthrangalkkumunpil " states that Brahmins never

had the name AYYAPPAN or AYYAN.

In the age old " Elavarsevampattu " it was clearly

mentioned that Ayyan belonged to " Vellalar kulam " .

Near Sree Ayyappa talkies of Erumeli, Kottayam, Kerala

there is a vellala house called Puthenveedu. In the

same compound there still is one 300 year old,

thatched, depleted, mud house, the house of Perissery

Pillai, Ayyappan's uncle and the Vellal Chieftain of

Erumeli. There even today one can see the ancient

sword used by Ayyappan to kill the monstrous ERUMA-

mahisham. The place where the " eruma " was killed

became Erumakolly and later Erumeli.

Sabarimala pilgrims - " Ayyappans " - conduct the Erumeli

PETTAITHULLAL during December-January months every

year , here at Erumeli in memory of the killing of

mahisham by Ayyan. " Ayyan / Ayyappan " Pillai is very

common name among vellalas of Kottayam, Alapuzha,

Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Ernakulam districts of

Kerala. A number of Ayyappan koils are constructed by

Vellalas migrated from Tamilnadu to Kerala e.g.

Erumeli, Kanam etc. Lakhs and lakhs of Tamilian

Ayyappan devotees called the " Ayyappans " - come to

Sabarimala every year to worship Tamil origin

" VELLALAR KULA JHATHAN AYYAN AYYAPPAN " .

________

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December 24, 2005

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