Dr SK Nayar
Note: The article is the result of the author's interpretations of his research. It has been included purely to represent another view point. The contents do not purport to represent the official view point of ABASS or any other such organisation.
Ayyappa, the deity of the Dravidians
The Story of the churning of the Milky Ocean
Ayyappan of the Ayyappan folk songs
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
Paramătma, Nirgunabrahma or Virătpurusa 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.
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.
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 non-Namputiri 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.
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.
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 folk-songs. They may be
classified under three convenient heads, viz, the puranic, the legendary and historical.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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 fiancée. 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 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.
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