Ayyappan

[shian]

I feel interest about Lord Ayyappan
i only read in wikipedia and hear some praises for Him
maybe we already talk about this here ??

Thank you

[gknair1959]

Lord Ayyappa is the son of Lord Mahavishnu and Lord Shiva.
Ayyappa is also known as Hari Hara Sudan.
Lord Ayyappa Temple is located in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala namely �Sabarimala�.
Ladies (in the age between 12 to 55 years) are not allowed to visit the Temple at Sabarimala.

[Ramakrishna]

Namaste Shianji,

I have heard of Lord Ayyappan before but I don't know much about Him. It is interesting that the Ayyappan temple at temple at Sabarimala is visited by tens of millions of pilgrims each year, making it one of the largest annual pilgrimage sites in the world.

Some pictures of this deity are also very beautiful.

[internationalhindu]

Lord Ayyappan is said to be the son of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu (in the Mohini avatar)...According to the legend, the King of Panthala (In Kerala) got baby Ayyappa from the forest while on his hunting trip...He took the baby since his queen didn't have any children and they had been praying for a child....the baby had a golden bell in his neck and was hence named 'manikanda'...The king and queen were delighted and took care of the baby with love...after a year or two, the queen and king had a baby of their own...the two brothers grew up learning all arts and skills...manikanda was fully proficient in all arts,skills and branches of knowledge...when the time came to decide the heir to the throne, the king was in favor of manikanda while the queen wanted her biological son to be the king...the queen had the army chief's support and they formulated a plot to fulfill their wish of making the younger prince the heir...they influenced the royal physician...and the queen faked having a severe stomach pain...the king called the physician to check the queen...the physician announced that the only possible remedy for this disease is to provide the queen with a tigress's milk...the king was shocked and wondered how it would be possible...Manikanda came forward and agreed to bring the remedy...though the king was reluctant, manikanda convinced him....the queen expected manikanda to be killed in the forest by the tigers, but to the surprise of everyone, Lord Manikanda returned on top of a Tigress along with a pack of other tigers and provided the tigress's milk...the queen realized Manikanda's divinity and apologized for her selfishness...after forgiving the queen, Lord Manikanda said that it was time for him to leave the palace....before leaving the palace, manikanda informed the King about his true form and adviced the king to build a temple in the place which is known as 'Sabarimala' now...the king loved manikanda greatly and requested to be allowed to leave the palace with him...Lord Manikanda disagreed and said that the King may come and visit him once a year....

This is the shortest explanation i could give about lord Ayyappa...shall try to explain about the Mohini avatar and the reason for Lord manikanda's birth in another post (so that the post doesnt become toooo long)...

[shian]

Vanakkam ,
International
Ladies (in the age between 12 to 55 years) are not allowed to visit the Temple at Sabarimala.
why not allowed ?

[internationalhindu]

Shian,

As far as i have heard there are 4 reasons for it :-

• in the olden days Sabarimala was in a fierce jungle and it was considered unsafe for women,
  
• if in case few women do manage to go, their dignity would be compromised since there would be a majority of men who may be tempted by these lone women in the forests
  
• a sabarimala visit is supposed to be a cleansing pilgrimage for the soul, and hence it requires control over one's senses and utmost devotion...the devotee is required to tame his mind and gain control over jealousy,anger,greed,luxury,hunger,etc... the absence of women would allow the devotee to reduce his thoughts about kama, which is the toughest to overcome
  
• the most important reason is that generally according to Hindu scriptures,
  women are not allowed to attend poojas or temples during their menstrual times,since the journey to Sabarimala used to take weeks of travel, there would definitely be an uncertainty involved in it, thus the ban on women was done to uphold the temple's sanctity

According to the legend, Lord Ayyapan is a bachelor and it is the reason stated for the ban on women, but i suppose the above reasons would be more logical...

Om

[Arjuni]

Namasté,

Regarding the story about young Manikanda, I will add to it that the tiger is sometimes said to be a leopard, and that in either case, it is said that the cat was Lord Indra transformed. (Yet another example of the latter's link to cats/tigers, which goes quite a ways back.)

And about the restriction of women from Sabarimala, this is the best reason for it that I have found:

"...it is often told that Swami Ayyappan Himself requested this of his earthly guardian, the King of Pandalam. We cannot easily dismiss this as a figment of imagination...

"As to why, that is left to speculation and logical deduction, but looking at the yogic posture of His vigraham (idol), it is evident that the deity is in a special posture of tapas and meditation. Here, in Sabarimala, one of HIS silent messages is to be free from the grips of Moha, and it could have been His intention that He himself does not become a perpetrator of the same - hence the embargo. He wanted to be undisturbed in His yogic bhava or mood. According to the legends, He turned down the proposal of marriage from Malikapuram herself. Like any other sage in a similar endeavour, he may not have wanted the presence of young ladies there. Not that he will succumb to their charms, but the other way around, i.e. so that the young ladies do not get attached to Him emotionally (like the Gopis of Vrindavan to Krishna), and thus forget their earthly obligations and duties to their own families...

"Thus, HIS request has to be rightly honoured by young ladies. Not with any defiance or recalcitrance, but with their ever-present gift of love and understanding."

(As a tangent: Lord Ayyappa's story causes me to wonder there is offense among some women at being excluded from this particular practice. I understand that history has oppressed/repressed women in many ways, but taken in isolation, and not lumped together with all of history - which in my opinion is not fair - men's rituals, men's "magic" and gatherings, are not innately wrong to me. It seems strange, especially when I consider how many rituals and activities - like Karva Chauth vrata, which is today! - are performed by women alone, and which men would never consider joining. Is there some historical/cultural/societal aspect of the Sabarimala pilgrimage that I'm missing, some reason that ladies should be upset?)

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

[shian]

How about if we install Lord Ayyappan pratima in our house altar ? Women also can pray ? or women can come to altar ?

[internationalhindu]

From the people that i have asked at temples, it is completely alright for women to pray and praise lord ayyapa at home or in other temples...Praying to lord ayyapa is recommended by many astrologers as an effective parihara(remedy) for shani dosha (saturn's anger)...

[saidevo]

The fascinating Ayyappa legend is of recent origin. Some links to know more about him and his worship:
http://www.ayyappan-ldc.com/
http://www.saranamayyappa.org/
http://www.sabarigiri.org/
http://www.swamyayyappa.com/