Sabarimalai : Lord Ayyappan

Sabarimalai

Lord Ayyappan is a symbol of religious unity and communal harmony. Being born out of Mohini (the female incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and Lord Shiva, he is also known as Bhuthanatha, Dharmasastha, Hariharan, Ayyanar and Manikanta.

There are several temples dedicated to Lord Ayyappan all over India. Among these the important temples along the Western Ghats are: Kulathupuzha - Ayyappan is a child here, Aryyankavu - He is a bachelor here, Achankovil - here he is as Dharmasastha with Poorna and Pushkala (his wives) Sabarimala - here he is a yogi, meditating for the benefit of all.

Harivarasanam

Harivarasanam is recited before closing the temple door every night. Harivarasanam song, which is sung at Sabarimala as a lullaby at night (Urakkupattu) was composed by Sri Kambangudi Kulathur Srinivasa Iyer. It is said that Srinivasa Iyer used to recite the composition, after the Athazha Puja, standing in front of the shrine of Ayyappa in the main temple. With the efforts of Swami Vimochanananda, it came to be accepted as the lullaby by the Thantri and melshanthi. The composition has 352 letters, 108 words in 32 lines (8 stanzas).

Though there have been many versions of this song sung by many renowned vocalists, the temple plays the rendition by K. J. Yesudas, composed by the renowned music director G. Devarajan, which is in the 'Madhyamavathi' raga of Indian Karnatic music. Harivarasanam is written in Malayalam.

Neyyabhishekam

This significant ritual involves pouring sacred ghee brought by pilgrims in their Pallikettu or Irumudi (A two compartment bag made of handwoven cotton cloth used to bear the offerings for Sabarimala Temple by the devotees and carried on their heads)on the idol of Lord Ayyappa. It symbolically means the merging of Jeevatma with the Paramatma.While a Red coloured Irumudi is used by a pilgrim on his first journey(Kanni Ayyappan) to Sabarimala, others use Navy Blue till third year and there on saffron coloured Irumudi.

Makara Vilakku

Lord Sri Rama and his brother Lakshmana met Sabari, a tribal devotee, at Sabarimala. Sabari offered the Lord fruits after tasting them. But the Lord accepted them gladly and whole-heartedly. The Lord then turned and saw a divine person doing tapas. He asked Sabari who it was. Sabari said it was Sasta.

Rama walked towards Sasta and the latter stood up and welcomed the Prince of Ayodhya. The anniversary of this incident is celebrated on Makara Vilakku day. It is believed that on Makara Vilakku day, Lord Dharmasasta stops his tapas to bless his devotees.

Aham Brahmasmi and Tattvamasi

The important message given at the temple is the ultimate knowledge that each individual is a God unto himself/herself, Tat Tvam Asi in Sanskrit meaning "That is you". Due to this pilgrims call each other Swami.

Tat Tvam Asi, meaning "That Thou Art" is the message that is given out by the Lord. It means, in short, you are part of the Universal Soul (in Sanskrit "Paramatma") which is the quintessence of Advaita philosophy. It also means for reaching Paramatma or Universal Soul.