Lord Ayyappa is worshipped mainly in the southern part of India (particularly in the states of Kerala and Tamilnadu). As the legend goes, Lord Ayyappa liberated the gods from the demoness Mahisa in Kali Yog. Mention of Ayyappa Swamy or Sastha is found in Skanda Puran.
In a fierce battle, Mahisasur, the demon king, was slain by Devi Durga. This was a devastating loss for the asuras. Mahisa, the sister of Mahisasur, decided to take revenge for her brother's demise, and she started severe penance to please Lord Brahma for the boon.
Her austerity continued for ages till Brahma became compelled to appear in front of her to fulfil her wish. She pleaded that she should only be slain by the son of two men. She asked for the blessing of immortality in disguise, as it was impossible by nature's law for any two men to give birth to a child. Brahma fulfilled her wish without realising the after-effects.
Mahisa, being virtually invincible, started a never-ending battle with the devas and attacked Swargarajya (heaven). Mahisha defeated Dev-raj Indra and the devas were exiled from the heaven.
Devraj Indra found no other way to save himself from this disaster. He sought help from Brahma. On Brahma's plea, Lord Vishnu came to rescue Indra from this calamity. Vishnu took an incarnation as Mohini (an enchanting woman) and mesmerised Shiva with her beauty and skills. As a result of the union of Chandrasekhara Shiva and Mohini Vishnu, a male child was born (Swamy Ayyappa), who was supposed to kill the demoness Mahisa. He came to be known as Harihara Putra or Harihara Puthiran (Son of Hari or Vishnu and Har or Shiva).
The child was left on the bank of the river Pampa and was being protected by the serpents. Incidentally, the childless king of Pandalam, Rajasekhara, arrived there and found that a beautiful child was lying on the ground. He adopted the child and named him Manikandan (mani means gem and kandan means throat) as the baby was wearing a ghanta (golden bell) as a pendant.
Soon after the event, the queen of Pandalam gave birth to a boy, Raja Rajan. Both the boys were growing together as two brothers. Manikandan was very brave, intelligent, and wise. Soon, he became extremely good at marshal art and proved himself as a fierce warrior.
The king could see the qualities of Manikandan and decided to coronate him as the crown prince. But a minister poisoned the ears of the queen, who became determined to make her own son the crown prince. So she bribed the royal physician and pretended to have a severe illness. She told Manikandan that the illness could only be cured by drinking the milk of a tigress. Although the king tried to prevent him, Manikandan was determined to heal her mother at any cost and without question left the kingdom in search of a tigress. While he was roaming about in the dense jungle, he came to see Maharishi Narada who explained to him the real reason for his birth. Realising his duty, Manikandan decided to end Mahisa and save the gods from her.
On his way, he met with a pirate who was a great warrior and came to Kerala to loot and plunder. He was known as Vavar or Babar. Manikandan had a fight with Vavar and managed to defeat him. Vavar was very much impressed by the vigour, strength, and wisdom of young Manikandan and became his ardent devotee. Vavar helped Manikandan in his quest to hunt down Mahisa .
Lord Ayyappa went to heaven and witnessed the torment of devas in the hands of Mahisha. The Lord dragged Mahisha to the bhu-lok, or earth, by holding the horns of the demoness. The battle between Manikandan and Mahisa took place in Erumeli. Manikandan defeated Mahisa and ended her life. But then a beautiful lady appeared from the body of Mahisha, who explained that she was once cursed to live like a demoness. The lady, Devi Malikapurathamma, proposed to Lord Ayyappa to marry her. But Lord Ayyappa was a Brahmachari and vowed to live a life of celibacy. As the lady was persistant, Lord Ayyappa promised her that he would only marry her if new devotees (kanni swamis) stopped coming to see him. Since then, Devi Malikapurathamma has been waiting for him in a nearby temple.
The gods and other devas praised the Lord Manikandan for their rescue. Manikandan asked Vavar to stay at Erumeli. One can witness the mosque of Vavar Swamy in Erumeli even today.
Out of gratitude towards Manikandan, or Lord Ayyappa, Indra sent tigers to him as a gift. Lord Ayyappa returned to his kingdom riding on a tigress. Everyone experienced the divine power of Lord Ayyappa at a single glance. The queen mother also realised her mistake and embraced her elder son with love and affection. But Manikandan rejected the king's wish to make him the king and decided to leave the kingdom for his heavenly abode after giving the throne to his younger brother.
Lord Ayyappa shot an arrow from his bow which hit a place called Sabarimala. The Lord instructed the king to donate the land to him and to make a temple there. Viswakarma designed the temple, and Parashuram created his idol. Since then, Lord Ayyappa has been staying in Sabarimala and showering his blessings on his devotees.
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