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Lord Ayyappan

 

Ayyappan, is a much revered South Indian deity. He is also known as Dharmaśāstā, Hariharasuta, Sāthanar,Sāstan, Cāttan , Ayyanār, Natrayan, Nattarasan (Nadu+Rayan, Nadu+Arasan = King of the country) and Bhūtanātha(n). Lord Ayyappan is worshipped in a number of shrines across India: at Kulathupuzha, in Kerala, he is worshipped as a child; at Achenkovil in conjunction with his consorts, Pushkala and Poorna; and at Sabarimala as an ascetic, a celibate meditating in solitude for the benefit of all mankind. The word Ayyappa is derived from two words Ayya - meaning Vishnu and Appa -meaning Shiva.
The Sabarimala Ayyappa temple preaches the principle of Tat Tvam Asi. The temple is unique in all India, in that there is no distinction of caste or religion in determining who can enter it. Non-Hindus are equally welcome. It might be more instructive to talk about the mythic origins of Ayyapan first, before we explore the history, as the mythic story always has a deeper resonance as well as more significant spiritual truth in India.
Every year according to the government statistics, at least 5 crore, (fifty million) devotees come to visit Ayyappan in Sabarimala and it provides ten thousand crores of rupees to the state.
Lord Ayyappan had his human sojourn as the son of the Raja (King) of Pandalam. At that time, Raja Rajasekhara ruled the kingdom of Pandalam. During one of his hunting expeditions, the Raja was puzzled to hear the wails of a child on the banks of the River Pampa. He moved in the direction of the voice to find a resplendent infant there. The beautiful baby with radiant face wore a gemstone (precious stone) around his neck, hence the name Manikantan ("Mani", means gemstone and "kantan" means wearer around the neck). Manikantan was born of Hari (Lord Vishnu) and Hara (Lord Shiva), with Hari assuming the form of a female (Mohini).