Sabarimala, in the district of Pathanamthitta is one of the most famous pilgirm centres of South India. The famous temple is the final resting place of Lord Ayyappa, the prince of Pandalam. This is his story.

The story of Lord Ayyappa

The union of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, incarnated as Mohini the enchantress, resulted in the birth of Lord Ayyappa or Hariharputhra. Shiva and Vishnu left the baby on the banks of the river Pampa and returned to their heavenly abode. Rajashekara, the childless King of Pandalam, spotted the baby lying helpless while he was out on a hunt. He and the queen accepted the baby as a gift from the Heavens. Since the baby was wearing a golden bell around his neck they decided to call him  'Manikantan'.

The divine boy was brought up in a manner befitting a prince. In a short period of time the boy mastered all lessons. His teacher was extremely happy at the achievements of his disciple and at the same time realized the boy’s divine power. When the time came for the boy to pay his fees, the teacher refused to accept any material benefits. Instead, he requested Manikantan to bless his son who was both blind and deaf. The dutiful disciple did so, and with his miraculous touch restored the boy’s sight and speech.

Subsequent to the arrival of Manikantan, the queen was blessed with a child of her own and both boys grew up as loving brothers. The time came for the King to decide who would be the heir to his throne. While the King decided to give the throne to Manikantan, the queen was slightly inclined to her own biological son. The general of the army was also on her side. They decided to discreetly thwart the King’s decision by tricking him. They approached the royal physician and enticed him with rewards so that he became an accomplice to the plot.

The queen pretended to have a severe stomach ache. The physician approached the King and convinced him of the seriousness of the queen’s condition. He stated that the only thing that would cure the queen was leopard's milk.

The King stood aghast at this incomprehensible remedy prescribed. "How could a leopard be approached for milk?" he asked, "And who would undertake such a dangerous mission?" Upon hearing this Manikantan volunteered to undertake this mission to save his mother. The King was aghast and would not permit his beloved son to go to the forest. However, Manikantan persisted and firmly stood by his decision to go. Eventually, the King gave in and Manikantan left for the forest.

However before he could get the leopard's milk he had to perform the task for which his birth was ordained - he had to kill the demoness Mahishi. Mahishi was the cousin of Mahisasura, a terrible demon ho was killed by the goddess Durga. Mahishi decided to avenge her cousin's death and first undertook severe penance to propitiate Lord Brahma. After her penance, she received a boon to the effect that she would not be killed by anyone born from a man-woman relation. If at all a child was born out of any other relation, he had to live on the earth in a royal family for a minimum period of twelve years before he could kill her. Then she attempted to seduce Indra, the King of the Demi-Gods. Lords Vishnu and Brahma created Datta, a male demon to divert the attention of Mahishi from Indra and for a while, the trick worked.  On his way to get leopard's milk, Manikantan (born from Vishnu and Shiva) encountered Mahishi. After a long tough fight, Manikantan killed Mahishi near the river called Azhutha.

Actually Mahishi was Leela, a beautiful demi-goddess, in a previous birth. She had been cursed to become a demoness. Leela now came out of the dead body of Mahishi and bowed before Ayyappa with a request that he marry her. The Lord, who had embraced bachelorhood, rejected this. However Leela did not give up and remained at Malikappuram in the hope that Ayyappa would change his mind. A temple is dedicated to her there and worshippers of Ayyappa make it a point to pay their respects at Malikappuram as well.

Ayyappan eventually managed to collect the milk of a leopard. Riding on a leopard, who is said to be Indra himself and surrounded by other leopards, he returned to the palace of Pandalam. The queen who watched this fantastic scene was shocked and dumbfounded. She realized her mistake and begged Ayyappa for forgiveness. Ayyappa forgave the queen mother and embraced his foster-father, the King.

Blessing all, he shot an arrow that landed atop the Sabari Hills indicating the place where he would be seated. He then left the Palace, and ascended the hill where he gave up his earthly body and his divine self returned to the heavens.