Story Of Ayyapan

 

There was once a demoness named Mahishi. She had obtained a boon from Lord Brahma that neither Lord Shiva nor Lord Vishnu should be able to kill her. She became powerful because of this boon and troubled the three worlds. In order to put a stop to this, Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu (in the form of Mohini) bore a boy child and left him in a forest. Meanwhile, a king named Rajashekhara had gone to that forest for hunting. He was childless and a devotee of Lord Shiva. He heard the cry of a baby in the forest. When he saw the baby, he wondered to whom it belonged. At that time, a Brahamana appeared before him and asked the king to raise the child and name him Manikanthan. The king took the child to the queen and she was overjoyed! Manikanthan soon grew up and mastered all the arts by the age of twelve. By that time, the queen gave birth to a son. She wanted the son born to her to be crowned as the king. The Diwan of the palace understood her thoughts and asked her to pretend to have a severe headache. He then paid the physician to recommend the milk of a tigress as a remedy to cure this headache. The physician agreed. Soon, king Rajashekhara was informed of this illness of the Queen. He sent all his troupes to get the milk of a tigress. But none of them returned successfully. Then Manikanthan volunteered. Rajashekhara was reluctant but upon Manikanthan's insistence, he let him go. Manikanthan set out to the forest and unknowingly entered the domain of demoness Mahishi. When Mahishi was informed of this, she attacked Manikanthan. A fierce battle ensued between them and soon Manikanthan killed Mahishi. Then he started searching for a tigress. At that time, Indra appeared before him and said he would take the form of a tigress. Manikanthan then sat on the tigress and returned to the kingdom. When Rajashekhara saw this, he was amazed! Then a divine voice told him that Manikanthan was none other than God himself. He fell at Manikanthan's feet and told him he would punish the Queen and the Diwan for their act. But Manikanthan forgave them. Then the king said he would like to build a temple for him. Manikanthan then said he would shoot an arrow and asked the king to build the temple wherever the arrow lands. The arrow fell at the summit of Sabarimala hills. With the help of Vishwakarma (celestial architect) and Parashurama (incarnation of Vishnu) as the sculptor of the main idol, the king built the temple. Devotees visit this temple to this day!