Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple

Sabarimala Temple is situated amidst dense forests in the top of a hill in the Western Ghtas Mountain Range in the state of Kerala. The main Deity of the temple is Sastha or Lord Ayyappan. The hill where the temple is located is surrounded by 18 other hills and all the other hills also have a temple of Sastha but this particular temple is the most famous one.

An estimated 50 Million devotees visit the temple every year that makes the temple the most visited during a festival season in the world. The temple is open only during the period of November to January and within that period devotees rush for the pilgrimage to offer their prayers and respect to the Lord.

Mythology:

Lord Parasuramar, one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu threw his divine axe at the western direction where there was only sea and the power of the weapon made the sea to retreat and thus the state of Kerala is born. It is said that after creating the state of Kerala, Lord Parasurama built the Sabarimala temple in the state which is otherwise called as the God’s own land.

King Rajasekara is the foster father of Lord Iyyappa and there is a divine story behind it. The king was ruling the region ably and he is respected and revered by his subjects. During the period there was a demon whose name was Mahishasuran who obtained a boon from Lord Brahma and became more powerful and even the devas were defeated by his powers. Devas went and prayed Goddess Durga and she with her divine powers killed the demon. Mahishi is the sister of the slain demon and she, in order to take revenge for her brother’s death meditated and obtained a boon from Lord Brahma.

According to the boon Mahishi could be killed only by the reincarnation of both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. Having obtained unconquerable powers Mahishi defeated all the three worlds. All good forces were defeated and destroyed. On the request of Devas, Lord Vishnu attained the form of a beautiful Damsel called Mohini and along with Lord Shiva, Mohini gave birth to a child and he is Iyyappa.

Once he is born he is left on the shores of a river where king Rajasekara takes bath every day and he finds the child. A Saint who was passing by advised the king to adopt the child.  The king took the child to his palace and in due course the queen also gave birth to a child. When both the children came to the age of succession the question of who will succeed the king became a big issue. The queen like all the mothers, out of love to his own son and misguided by the chief minister wants her son to become the next king. But Rajasekara wanted Ayyappa to succeed him.

As advised by her chief minister, the queen pretends to be ill and the doctor examines the queen and says that only the milk from a tigress could save her. King Rajasekara sends all his army into the forest and everyone could not obtain the milk. Lord Ayyappa who was only 12 years old at that time offers to go into the forest to fetch the Milk from a Tigress.

Lord Ayyappa enters the forest and the first thing he witnessed is the presence of evil force Mahishi and fights her.  After a deadly battle he kills the mighty Demon and over her dead body the Lord makes a divine dance that was felt in all the worlds. Then he goes on to gather all the tigresses in the forest and returns to the palace sitting in a tiger.

After the seeing the powers of the Child everyone realizes that he is the incarnation of god and the Lord advises the king to build a temple for him in the hill top where he will come every year to grace his devotees. He also said that only those devotees who observe a strict fasting and religious rites for 41 days will be graced with his blessings.

King Rajasekara worshipped Lord Parasurama and on his request Parasurama, with the power of his weapon – the axe, created a land from the sea and over that built the temple.

Pilgrimage to the Temple:

Devotees take 41 day viradham before going to the temple. At the start of the viradham they are initiated by a Guru who had already visited the temple for 18 consecutive years. They are given a mala made of Rudraksha and special beads and after wearing it the devotee also becomes an equivalent of god and he will be called the next 41 days as ‘Swamy’ or god by all the people. He has to wear only dhoti wither of black or blue colour.

Devotees restrain themselves from eating non vegetarian food during the period and also avoid tobacco and alcohol. They are supposed to take bath twice a day and offer poojas to the Sastha. On the 41^st day they start their pilgrimage to the Sabarimala temple.

The route is one of the toughest and experiencing all the hardship of the viratham and the travel devotees throng the temple every year.

Prayers:

During the pilgrimage period everyday a slogam called Harharasanam is recited which is composed by Sri Kambangudi Kulathur Srinivasa Iyer and is in the SWanskrit Language.

Appam is the main Prasadham offered in the temple and Abhishekam is offered to the lord with ghee that is called as Nei abhishekam.

All males irrespective of their nationality, caste, creed or religion are allowed in the temple. But females of age from 10 to 50 are not allowed to the Sabarimala temple as the lord dwelling here is still a brahmachrya or the one who has never married.