LORD AYYAPPA

Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, and Lord Vishnu came together in their human forms to establish dharma in the world. Form this union there emerged a shakti or force in the human form of a male child, which they named Datta. Correspondingly, their consorts, by their Yogamaya, came together to create Maharshi Galava who gave the world a daughter named Leela, who in time married Datta. The two of them lived on the earth enjoying the worldly pleasures of youthful life. Leela became mad with mundane desires, and Datta complied with her desires. After some time Datta became aware of his devine nature and made a decision to withdraw himself from his alliance with her. Leela became very unhappy about this decision, because her earthly desires were not yet satisfied. She begged him not to leave her, but he replied that she would destroy her soul chasing after these earthly pleasures and carnal desires. Leela was blinded by desire and could not resist temptation or bear the thought of Datta leaving her. She thus challenged him by saying that she was now his Mahishi. Datta became angered by the threat and cursed her by saying that she was to be born as a mahishi (she-buffalo) in the family of Asuras. Leela then in a burst of anger returned that when she is born as a mahishi, he would be born as a mahisha, and become her consort, thus spending his life with her.

The curses came true, and Leela was born Mahishi, with the face of a buffalo, to an Asura named Karamba. Datta was born Mahishasura to Karamba’s older brother Ramba. After a short time the Goddess Chandika killed Mahishasura because he was becoming to powerful. Mahishi was infuriated, and became filled with the desire for revenge. She went to Lord Brahma who was pleased with her devotion, and asked her to choose any boon she wanted except immortality. She asked that he grant her rule over Devaloka, that Devendra become her slave, and that her tribe should increase. Since she could not have immortality she cleverly asked that she could only be killed by the hands of one born of Hari and Hara (two male forms) who has spent twelve years as the servitor of a mortal. Brahma granted her this.

Mahishi wasted no time, she immediately went straight to Devaloka, and invoked war. With the help of Brahma’s boon, she easily defeated Devendra and usurped his thrown. She then was the master of the Devas, and spent the rest of her days tormenting them for the death of Mahishasura. After some time the Devas found Mahishi’s tormenting to be unbearable. Devaloka and the other Devas went to Brahma to ask for his help. Brahma remembered the boon he had granted Mahishi, and was thus puzzled as to a solution. He in turn went to Siva and Vishnu and the trinity joined again to find a solution. The shakti that had emerged from them to create Datta emerged again, this time in the form of a buffalo named Sundara Mahisha. Vishnu then blessed Sundara Mahisha and told him to go to Devaloka and bring Mahishi down to earth. When Mahishi saw Sundara Mahisha she was instantly returned to her carnal desires. She forgot about her quest for revenge, and left Devaloka with Sundara Mahisha to live on earth.

Once Mahishi was gone, Devendra returned to his thrown in Devaloka. None of the Devas felt safe, because they feared the return of Mahishi who could easily take back the thrown, and continue tormenting the Devas. The Devas turned to Siva for a solution to the problem of killing someone that can only be killed by the child of two males. Siva went to Vishnu and asked him to become the form of Mohini, a beautiful and enchanting form of Vishnu. At this request, Vishnu became Mohini, who bonded with Siva. Since Vishnu was in the form of a woman, if a child was born, it would still be born to male and a female. Mohini returned to the male form of Vishnu, still impregnated with the child of Siva. Vishnu then pierced his thigh, and Siva removed Lord Bhootanatha.

Lord Bhootanatha was brought up on Mount Kailas under the guidance of Lord Siva. After some time Siva told him that the time had come for him to got to earth and become the servitor of a human, thus fullfilling the rest of the boon granted to Mahishi. Siva told him to take the form of a child, and to go to earth to wait by the river Pampa for the childless king Rajasekhara to come on his hunting trip. He was then supposed to attract the king’s attention.

The King

There was a king named Rajasekhara who lived many years ago, he was a kind and charitable king adored by his subjects. Rajasekhara’s kingdom flourished beneath him, but he was not a happy man. He was not able to bear a son, and like all men would have been, he was saddened by the fact that he would not have an heir to his thrown. This was a source of perpetual grief to him and his wife, and they spent their lives supplicating God to bless them with a child.

One day Rajasekhara went out on a hunting trip with a group of his men. The king and his men spent the full day hunting and as the sun began to set his men were tired and took rest by the river Pampa. Rajasekhara and his men drank from the river. Then exhausted from the hunt, his men lay down to sleep. The king, saddened by the thought of not having an heir to his thrown, walked off to secluded spot to sit alone. As he lay there his thoughts became quieted and he was able to pay attention to his surroundings.

Suddenly he could hear the sound of a human child crying not far off in the forest. Instantly he rose to his feet and walked in the direction from which the sound came. His men, also hearing the cry rose and followed their king into the forest. After following the sound for a short while he saw a beautiful baby boy sitting on a rock crying and kicking his feet in the air, his face as radiant as a thousand suns. "How helpless this child is." thought the king overcome with emotion. "What thoughtless and cruel man could have left this beautiful helpless child in such an unforgiving forest?" he thought as he examined his surroundings realizing that there was no path leading to this section of the forest. The king stood there puzzled and confused. He could not decide if he should take this gift with him and adopt the child as his own, or if he should leave the child to his fate. As he stood there debating with himself, his mind was suddenly set at ease by the sight of an old Brahmin whose very presence brought a calm to the entire forest. The Brahmin as if understanding the kings internal conflict greeted him by saying "Why hesitate, Oh! king? Take him to your palace. He will bring you all glory. Do not probe into his secret. You will know all about him after twelve years. Do you not see a gold bell on his neck? Call him therefore, Manikantha." With this, the old Brahmin blessed the king and disapeared into the forest.

The king took the words of the Brahmin as a divine order, and quickly took the child home to his palace. The king knew that there was something mysterious about the Brahmin, but what he did not know was that this Brahmin was in fact Lord Vishnu in disguise. When the king reached the palace, his queen was overjoyed with the blessing of such a beautiful child. The whole kingdom, with the exception of the Dewan, was filled with happiness knowing that the good king would have an heir to his thrown. Nobody knew what a true gift this child was.

Rajasekhara appointed a guru to educate and train Manikantha to be a respectful king. Under the guidance of this guru, Manikantha surpassed all of his friends in his lessons, and became extremely efficient at archery and swordplay. The guru treated Manikantha with the greatest respect because he believed the child to be some divine personality.

After some time the boy finished his training with the guru at a very young age. After his training was completed, he presented the guru with customary gifts. The guru, who was aware of Manikantha’s divine power, humbled himself before the boy and asked that he show mercy and grant his son with the gift of sight and speech, for he was both blind and mute. Manikantha lifted the boy into his arms and his divine touch instantly brought both sight and speech to the boy. He placed the boy on the ground in front of his guru, who in turn blessed Manikantha and told him that he would be a king of kings.

After some time the queen was able to give birth to a son. Her maternal love was quickly turned to this boy, her true son. Manikantha was after all adopted from the forest. At this time Manikantha was almost twelve years old, and the king had forgotten about the prophecy of the old Brahmin in the forest. The Dewan, who had at this point made several unsuccessful attempts at the boys life, saw with the birth of the kings new son a chance to rid the kingdom of Manikantha once and for all. The Dewan dispised the fact that Manikantha was going to become the king when Rajasekhara was dead.

Soon after the birth of his son, the king, who had great affection for Manikantha and treated him like he was his oldest son, announced that he was going to crown Manikantha as Yuvaraja. The king asked his Dewan to make the arrangements for the coronation ceremony. News spread rapidly throughout the kingdom, and all awaited the coronation joyously. Everyone except the Dewan, who went directly to the queen and repeated a section of the Ramayana to her. He took the role of Manthara, and the queen the role Kaikeyi. In this section of the Ramayana Rama is sent off into the forest, which destroyed the royal plan (a situation vry similar to this one). He easily convinced the queen that Manikantha did not deserve to be crowned as Yuvaraja, and that he was taking the kingdom away from her true son. He suggested that she pretend to have a severe headache and have the doctor prescribe leopards milk as the cure. The loyal Manikantha would volunteer for the job of heading into the forest to obtain this seemingly impossible object. If Manikantha were to embark on such an adventure wild animals would certainly kill him.

The Dewan's plan was carried out without a flaw, and Manikantha against the will of his father decided to go to the forest to obtain the leopards milk. Manikantha was willing to sacrifice his own life to make the king happy. His father suggested that Manikantha take with him a cocnut representative of Lord Siva, his family deity. He put into a bundle a coconut and some food to sustain himself along the way, and headed into the forest with the bundle on his head. He went alone against the will of his father, because he was afraid that a band of people would scare a leopard away. So as it were the king watched as Manikantha, barely twelve years of age, disapeared into the forest alone. The king, uncertain of the boy's survival skills spent his days praying for his safe return.

No sooner did Manikantha enter the forest than Vapara, Katusabda, Veerabhadra, Koopanetra, Koopakarma, and Gandakarna, his lieutenants, at the command of Lord Siva came and stood at attendance at his feet. After blessing them, Manikantha walked through the forest until he reached the Pampa River. With his arrival, came many of the Rishis who lived in the area. They made obeisance to him, and brought him to a golden temple ten miles from the river.

It was at this place that the Devas sought him out in order to kill Mahishi who had returned to Devaloka to torment the Devas. Lord Bootanatha instantly left for Devaloka, and found Mahishi. He caught hold of her horns and threw her down to earth. Then he followed her down to the banks of the Alasa river, and danced on her fallen body. Lord Siva and the Devas came to this place on earth to whitness the destruction of the evil Mahishi, and praised Lord Bootanatha for the great deed he had done for them.

Siva then told Bootanatha to return to Rajasekhara who was still passing his days in distress waiting for the return of Mahishi. Siva told him that Rajasekhara was a great devotee, and that he should be granted with immortality. Siva told him that Rajasekhara would build him a temple near Sabari’s Asram, and the place would become famous as the Sabari Hill. Lord Botanatha then mounted Devendra in the form of a lion, and was followed back to Rajasekhara by all of the Devas in the form of leopards.

When he returned, he dismounted the lion and stood respectfully next to the king, he requested that the king take as much milk from the leopards as was required to cure the queen of her headache. The good king realizing the divine nature of the boy first thought of the fear of his subjects that was a result of the thousands of leopards standing before them. He asked that the leopards be sent away; and then told him that the queen’s headache had subsided the day Manikantha left for the forest. The king appologized for not recognizing the divinity of the boy, and condemned the Dewan and his queen to be punished as they deserved. Lord Bootanatha told the king that since their actions were necessary for the fulfilment of a divine work, they have not sinned. He then granted the king any boon he wanted because he was so devoted. As Siva had said, the king asked for immortality, and was granted this. The king then asked to be granted the boon of being allowed to construct a temple for him in the king’s territory. Lord Bootanatha agreed, and told him that his temple was to be built on the Neeli hills. He told the king that he would shoot an arrow that would land in the exact spot where the temple was to be built. He granted the king with the divine eye so that he could follow the path of the arrow. Before leaving, he prescribed the necessities of the temple and the steps which should be taken by the pilgrims who would come to show their respect and devotion to him. He also gave directions of how the poojas should be carried out, and said that eighteen temples were to be erected in Kerala that were to be devoted to him, with the one on Sabari Hill as the most important.

THE PILGRIMAGE

When making a pilgrimage to the temple of Lord Bootanatha, there is a strict regiment that must be followed, or the path to knowledge, which is the purpose of the pilgrimage, will not be achieved. These steps are as follows:

1) The elimination of sex, not only physically, but in thought and word also. This is to help keep perfect health and strength of the body and mind.

2) One should not eat stale food, and should eat only enough food to sustain life.

3)A pilgrim may only wear blue, black, or ochre colored clothing. Blue is the all-enveloping celestial color, the color the Lord himself wears. Ochre is a renunciate’s color, and black denotes the man who is dead to the world.

4)One should see the Lord as omnipotent, omnipresent, and in all things animate and inanimate. Every man is to be seen as the Lord himself. This is to help man to rise above his lower consciousness.

5)A man should do work for the sake of work, not for monetary benefit. Work should be done for the sake of the Lord, for him to distribute the benefits as he chooses.

6)Serve without distinction, all men should be created equally and thus will treat you the same.

7)Surrender to him all that you are. Trust in the Lord and live life for him, and the Lord will make any task, no matter how impossible it may be, seem an easy one.

8)Each pilgrim must carry with them the “Irumudi,” a cotton bag in two compartments, one in the front and one behind. The Irumudi is carried on the head like the bag that Manikantha carried into the forest on his quest for leopard’s milk. The pilgrimage is complete only when the front part is emptied. The front part contains a coconut filled with ghee from a cow. The third eye of the coconut is removed, the ghee is poured in, and a cork is placed in the hole and sealed. The rear part contains the personal requirements, food and other essentials of the pilgrimage. These two parts are first separately tied and then tied together to form two separate bundles under one knot.

9)The ghee filled coconut is representative of the coconut that Rajasekhara told Manikantha to carry with him into the jungle to represent Siva and to protect against evils. It also represents the symbolic journey of the soul, the soft eye of the coconut represents the spiritual eye of man, the ghee his soul, and the coconut his body.

The trek taken by the pilgrims is a long and hard walk through mountains, across rivers, through cities, and through forests infested with wild animals. Along the way, all of the above mentioned steps must be considered. The pilgrim eats only what he has brought in the rear part of the Irumudi, all of which must be consumed by the time he reaches the shrine. When he reaches the shrine all that he should have with him is what is contained in the front portion of the Irumudi, and the clothes he is wearing. Before reaching the temple, the above mentioned austerities must be observed for no less than 41 days. On arrival, the pilgrim must ascend the eighteen steps, which represent the eighteen elements in him, thus overcoming these elements. He then stands in front of the Lord, of which he is a part of, and symbolically casts off the body by opening the coconut. When the coconut is opened, there is a symbolic merging with the supreme, and the ghee is poured over the idol. Then, the body dies and is consumed, as the two halves of the coconut are thrown into a fire. The pilgrim then walks backward down the eighteen steps always keeping his eyes on the Lord.

NAME

Lord Bhootanatha goes by many names, Darma Sasta being one of the most popular, and Arya Tatha has traditionally been a favoured name. Tatha means Appa, or father. Therefore it is possible that he used to be called Arya Appa. This name reasonably could have become Ayyapa.

DEPICTIONS

In the depictions of Ayyapa, he is always seen in a squating position. He is the combination of Siva and Vishnu, Siva is always seen in a standing position, and Vishnu is always seen lying down. He also wears a belt around his knees. When giving Rajasekhara instuctions on how to make the idol, he said “I desire to be adored in a figure wearing a pattabandha, (a belt around the knees) and with Cinmudra (the sign of the Tatwamasi).” Thus these two items are always on any depiction of him.