1. Lord Ayyappa Myth and Historical Facts
Myth
This is not to insult any ones religious feeling or hurt any ones sentiment towards Lord
Ayyappa, as a man from the land of Lord Ayyppa’s myth and related to him. (not a joke!!My
great –great grandfather from maternal side comes from Pandalam Royal Family)
I always wonder the story about Lord Ayyappa, the uniqueness in the rituals and the way it
beautifully incorporated different ideas like Buddhism, Shivisam ,Vaishnavisam Shaktheyaya
,Jainism and even Islam , during the olden days of strict untouchabilty, the followers of
Ayyapa’s kept away from the rigid Brahmin practices and people from different cast and
creed without any difference pilgrimage to the hill ,over come all the difficulties to offer their
prayer and sought the blessing of Lord Ayyappa..
In various puranas it is said that Lord Hariharaputhra was born to Shiva and Mohini (Vishnu).
He materialized himself the shape of a tiny child called “MANIKANTA” on the banks of Holy
River Pambha, brought up by Pandala King, healed the deaf and dumb boy of his Guru, gone
to the dense forests as per evil designs of His stepmother, slained Demoness Mahishi, brought
leopard milk for His step-mother and killed the wicked Udayanan and took to yoga at Sabari
Hills.
Kingdom of Pandalam
The Pandalam kingdom had its beginning around 904 AD when a scion of the declining
Paandya kingdom of Madurai in Tamil Nadu took refuge in Kerala when attacked by the
Cholas, and brought some land from the Lord of Pandalam area known as Kaipuzha Thampan,
when this Nair lords family died without any offspring all the lands goes to The Pandiyan Raja
and established the Kingdom of Pandalam. Pandya royals re-united in the year 1174 AD.
Other Pandya Descendents who migrated to Kerala during the Chola attack ,attack of Maduri
Naiks and the later attack by the General of Delhi Sultan Alavudeen Khilji, the eunuch Malik
Kafur during 1310AD.,were Punjar royalty and Minacchil Kartha .
Udayanan, The dreaded Marava Chief had come with his hordes from Tamil regions beyond
the borders and dominated the regions of Kerala. Udayanan built up many fortresses on the
mountain of Talappara, Inchippara and Karimala in the border forests of Pandalam kingdom.
The temple of Sabarimala where Dharma Sastha (Avalkothsrea sreebudha) was worshipped
from the very ancient past was on the route – a highway between Tamilnadu and Kerala, along
which the merchants have traveled, ( the fore fathers of Muslim Labbas, Rawuthers, and

2. Velllas of Mundakayam,Idukki,Pathanamthitta comes through this way ) . Udayanan used to
plunder wealth from the travelers and the villages nearby.
Buddhism was one of the main religious idea that got a lot of followers along with Shaktheya
Amman tradition during the first millennium, places like karunagapalli ( all the places comes
with “Palli”),Sreemulanagaram, Bharnikkavu,Pallikkal,Bhudhanoor etc ware main Buddhist
areas . Chathan, Puthanchhan, sastavu etc are name of Sreebudha.
The Historical Ayyappan
Alangad Connection -
Two groups are now fighting in Court (and this time even during the “Pettathullal” also ) to be
the Alangad Yogam, which position gives a lot of privileges at Sabarimala. One is at
Manjapra, near Angamaly; and the other is at Alangad village itself. Both places were in
Alangad kingdom in olden days ruled by Alangadau Karthakal. Manjapra (Near Angamaly)
group says that they are descendents of the Parvathyakar [Minister] of the Alangad Raja,
entrusted with sending the Petta troupe to Sabarimala every year; and this right makes them
the genuine Alangad Yogam. The other group oppose it. They say that the story began with
Ayyappan’s coming to their Chembora Kalari for training.
Alangad Yogam is the 'father's yogam'; and Ambalapuzha Yogam is the 'mother's yogam'.
Kesari Balakrishna Pillai's 'followers' tell the following story:
In one of his missions, Udayanan first plundered the Avalokiteswara Vihara for the treasures
there and then proceeded to the Pandalam palace.
At the Pandalam palace, Kaampillil Panikkar was the Commander of the Nair forces. He was
thinking of handovering his power to his son due to old age, and was training his son at the
Palace, to take over.
At the time of Udayanan's attack, the young son of Panikkar was away somewhere and the old
Commander could not fight off Udayanan.
Udayanan overcame the Pandalam padanairs and took away the Princess, who was the only
sister of the Raja, Their mother had been a daughter of Ambalapuzha Raja (Ampalapuzha
Netranarayanan- one of the three Numputhiri rulers of Kerala ,the other was Edapally
Nampiyathiri and Venganadu Nampidi) After some hours, the younger Kaampillil Panikkar
turned up and was grief-stricken to hear about the Princess' abduction. He immediately set off
after Udaynan with his available Nairs.
They reached Udayanan's camp at nightfall; and consensus was reached to attack at daybreak,
for lack of light then.However, the young Panikkar could not wait, presumed to be due to his
emotions for the Princess. And he stole into the Camp alone, and managed to take off with the
Princess in the darkness. On their way back, the Princess who felt that her return would only
cause loss of honor to the Royalty, and the consenting Panikkar decided not to return to the

3. Palace, but to go into hiding and be together.
Pandalam was 'padma-dala-puram', with ten 'dalam's or villages; one of which was
Ponnambalamedu in the forests. The romantic duo decided to settle at Ponnambalamedu, away
from public view. And they got help from some hill tribes and , “Perissery Pillai” the Vellar
kulam talavan (who later became the foster Uncle of Ayyan Ayyappan.)
Eventually, they had a son, The child was born on 14-01-1095 AD !!-they named the Child
Ayyppan. who grew up with the animals around, including tigers and leopard.
Once, the Raja of erstwhile Punjar state Manavikraman, was on a journey and was
surrounded by dacoits in the jungles of Vandiperiyar(Today’s Pulmedu). King Manavikraman
fought to his extent but was over powered by the dacoits. He started praying to Goddess
Meenakshi of Madurai and his prayers were answered when a young boy riding on an elephant
came to rescue of the King. It was Ayyappa who was wandering in the jungle, who had tamed
a wild elephant and riding on its back. Ayyappa saved the King Manavikraman of from the
Dacoits of Udayanan’s Group. He gave a “Perambu” – cane as his representative and asked the
Raja to proceed to his Palace without any fear. Though only of Fourteen years of age,
Ayyappa proved his mettle both as an accomplished warrior and a born Yogi.
In one of his hunting expeditions some time later, the Pandalam Raja happened to pass
Ponnambalamedu, and found his lost sister and former Commander-designate. The King
requested them to return, and the couple refused. The King then demanded that his nephew,
the heir to the throne be given to him. This had to be acceded to,The King returned after the
hunt with a son from the wilderness. During the stay in Pandalam he killed Mahishi near
Erumeli (“Erume kolli”, -the place were the buffalo killed ), she may be a “Advasi “ (Hill
Tribe ) and their totem may be buffalo.
Kaampillil Panikkar is a Nayar family at Muppathadom near Eloor in Ernakulam district.
Muppathadom and the surrounding area were parts of the Alangad Kingdom.
To get help against Udayanan later on, it was only natural for Ayyappan to go to Alangad and
his father’s people. The subsequent story of the defeat of Udayanan in the combined attack by
Alangad and Ambalappuzha yogam is known.
When Ayyappan decided to proceed with the mission of his life – To destroy Udayanan and
his gang and rebuild the Sastha temple. So Ayyappan decided to build a powerful army.
He approached to other Rajas and Chieftains to accomplish his mission, First he visited
Kayamkulam Raja (Kayamkulam was a center of Merchants from different part of the world
including Arabs, Chinese and North Indian and .South Indian Business communities ) that
time they were suffering from the attack of a pirate called Vavar. Kayamkulam Raja appointed

4. The Karanavar ( head ) of Mullasseril family , who was the minister as well as the bravest
soldier of Kayamkulam Raja, was to assist Ayyappa in the attempt. Conquering both body and
mind of Vavar and converting him as a disciple. (Vavar, a Muslim youth from Kanjirappally,
However, there is another interesting story relating to Vavar. According to this reference,
Vavar originally belonged to Pandya Desam near Madurai in Tamil Nadu. The myth says that
the Vavar family , along with other Rawuther families migrated to Travancore during an
attack from Thirumalainaicken who was a Cheftain under Pandyas and later became the ruler
of Madurai.
But there is one thing that is definite, that he was a Muslim. Then there is the fact that there
still exists his clan, 15th descendants in line (some of the Vettiplackal Kudumbayogam
families living in Alapuzha district claim to be the 14th or 15th line of descendants of
Vavarswami), now at Erumeli. They are the ones who do the rites at the mosque and the Vavar
temple the offering to Vavar is always Green pepper and rose water. There is no
distinguishable idol, but just a carved stone slab symbolizing the deity of Vavar. A green silk
cloth is hung across walls, and an old sword is kept near the wall, perhaps to symbolize Vavar
was a great warrior. The main offering at this shrine is green pepper; a befitting tribute to a
heritage of pepper trade. Other offering include rose water, sandalwood paste, coconut and
ghee. Pilgrims donate money in the donation box and some of the pilgrims bring goats as
sacrifice.The descendants of Vavar are believed to be Vaidyas practicing the Unani (Greek)
system of medicine)
Kadutha, a Nair youth from Muzhukeer (Chenganoor, Alapuzha dist) ( Olden days the offering
of Kaduthaswami was “kanjavu (Ganja) and Pukayila” now a days that practice is
discountinued) who was a great warrior and an expert in mountain-warfare, was a General
(Padanair) of Pandala Raja. He played an indispensable role in defeating the armies of
Udayanan and rescuing several Pandya lords. Therefore Ayyappan called Kadhutha to assist in
the mission along with Kuchu Kadutha Nair (the master of Sword fighting ) and Villan and
Mallan (perfect Archers who are much experienced in mountain war fare) two other dreadful
“Padanairs” belongs to Pandalam Raja.
While his stay at Cherthala , Ayyappan was in the Kalari of Cheerappanchira Mooppan.(One
ancient Ezhava family , Communist leaders “Vayalar Stalin“C.K.Kumarapannikar, CK
Chandrappan and Susheela Gopalan comes from this family ) Mooppan’ s daughter fell in
love with Ayyappa. When this girl proposed her love, Ayypan declined and informed her that
he is a “Brahmachari” and the sole aim of him is to destroy the Udayan and other Pirates
operating the mountain area, and the girl now worship as “Malikapurathuamma”.
Ayyapan organized his army and they took necessary arrangement for a long mountain
warfare. Ayyappan asked all the members to observe strict Vrutham before entering Sastha’s

5. Poonakavanam. After the Vrutham for 56 days, they worshipped Kiratha Sastha at Erumeli for
the victory in the war. All the army battalions started assembling at erumeli and in order to
avoid suspicion, he ordered the troop to dress as tribal people.(present day Pettai thullal)
Before the final attack on Udayan, Ayyappa distributed the Army into three groups :
1) Alankat Yogam under the leadership of Vavar
2) Amalpuzha Yogam under the leadership of Kadutha
3) Pandalam Yogam under the leadership of Villan and Mallan
Ayyappa kept the central command of the three groups with himself and Kouchu Kadutha and
started the pursuit of Udayanan from three sides North, South and East. This Strategy to the
attack from three sides Udayanan was caught in a mouse trap there.
When the royal entourage, proceeded near Sabarimala temple , Ayyappa instructed everyone
to leave all the weaponry beneath a big banyan tree there, as carrying of weapons to a temple
premises was a sacrilege. Accordingly, the sword, spears, clubs etc. were left at the foot of the
banyan tree – today’s Saramkutti.
Very soon Ayyappan’s army, marched through the forests and annihilated Udayanan’s army.
Udayanan’s Army was no match for the Formidable Army of Lord Ayyappa and after a
fierceful fight between the two Armies, Uadayanan was slayed by the hands of Kochu
Kadutha Nair at Karimala Kotta. Ayyappan’s mission ended successfully.
Right from the moment he stepped into the holy mountain, Ayyappa was in silence and
meditation. Until the completion of the Srikovil and installation of the idol, Ayyappan sat on
meditation at the place where today’s Manimantapam stands.
On the first day of the month of Makaram when the sun moved from the zodiac of Dhanus to
that of Makaram, the re-installation of the idol was ceremoniously conducted. Ayyappa did the
reconsecration in Sabarimala temple
Reference :- various historic books such as "Elavarsevampattu, Kesari Balakrishna Pillai's
'followers', Nalankal Krishnapillai’s and Dr.S.K.Nair’s books,