Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple

The layout of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple is believed to have originated from the specific instructions given by the Lord himself, who wanted Malikappurathamma, on his left a few yards from Sannidhanam, and his trusted lieutenants Vavur and Kadutha to be positioned as his guards at the foot of the holy 18 steps. The pilgrims worship in this place also. This exemplifies the unique feature of the temple.

Ayyappa cult gives much importance for the secularism and communal harmony and has turned out to be a model for the whole world. Another significant aspect of the pilgrimage is that all the pilgrims whether rich or poor, learned or illiterate holding position or not master or servant are all equal before Lord Ayyappa and all address each other as AYYAPPA.

The pilgrims on their sojourn to Sabarimala worship at Erumeli Sree Dharma Sastha Temple and conduct “Petta Thullal”. They also worship in the mosque at Erumeli as a part of their pilgrimage.

According to legend, the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple and the deity of Ayyappa have always been regarded as the Pandalam Raja’s very own. So permission from the King has to be attained before proceeding to the temple. To make it easy for pilgrims to obtain the necessary permission, a representative of the king sits with all the royal insignia, on a raised platform at the base of the Neelimala Hill. The pilgrims offer a token amount (not necessary) to the royal representative, and receive vibhuti from him.

This marks the beginning of the steepest climb of the pilgrimage, the 3 km trek up the majestic Neelimala Hill, atop which sits Lord Ayyappa in all his glory. The pilgrims wind their way up the difficult trail in an unending stream, the hill reverberating with the constant chanting of thousands.

18 Golden Steps of Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple

The Sabarimala Ayyappa temple commands a lofty view of the mountains and valleys all around. The ancient temple has been rebuilt after a fire in 1950, that consists of a sanctum with a copper-plated roof and four golden finials at the top, two mandapams and the flag-staff. Replacing the earlier stone image of the deity is a beautiful idol of Ayyappa in panchaloha, an alloy of five metals, about one and a half feet. Several myths persist regarding the significance of the Pathinettu thripadikal or the 18 holy steps, but almost all of them stress the importance of the number, 18. According to a popular belief, the first 5 steps signify the five indriyas or the senses , the following 8 the ragas (tatwa, kama, krodha, moha, lobha, madha, matsraya, and ahamkara), the next 3 the gunas (satwa, rajas and thamas) followed by vidya and avidya. Climbing these would take the devotee closer to self-realisation.

Lord Ayyappan who belonged to the Vellalar Kulam, the army chief of the Pandalam royal family. Ayyan was instrumental in the defeat of Udayanan, who attacked Sabarimala and tried to demolish the ancient Sastha temple in the thick forest of present Pathanamthitta district. Meanwhile the Royal family of King Pandya had migrated from Tamilnadu about 800 years back. The King reconstructed the destroyed Sastha temple at Sabarimala. After the demise of Ayyappan, people thought that he was the incarnation of Lord Sastha and began to worship him. Later Ayyappan and Sastha became synonymous.

In Elavarsevampattu, it is clearly mentioned that Ayyan belonged to Vellalar kulam, Near Erumeli, Kottayam, Kerala. There still exists a vellala house called Puthenveedu in Erumely. Even today one can see the ancient sword used by Ayyappan to kill the monstrous power. The place where the “eruma” was killed became Erumakolly and later Erumeli.

The customs of the pilgrims to Sabarimala Ayyappa temple are based on five worshipping methods. At first, there were three sections of devotees – the devotees of Shakti who used meat to worship their deity, the devotees of Vishnu who followed strict penance and continence, and the devotees of Shiva who partly followed these two methods. Another name of Ayyappa is Sastha. All these can be seen merged into the beliefs of pilgrims to Sabarimala.