Ayyappa Ji

Ayyappa is worshipped as the son of Shiva and Vishnu (in his female form Mohini), a deity who bridges Shaivism and Vaishnavism, honoured chiefly at the Sabarimala hill shrine in Kerala, one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world.

He is also called Hariharaputra, "son of Hari (Vishnu) and Hara (Shiva)," and is regarded as a form of the deity Shasta; as a child he was named Manikandan for the bell (mani) found around his neck.

He is typically depicted as an ascetic, seated in meditation with a yogic band around his knees, dressed simply and adorned with rudraksha, an iconography that reflects the strict vow of celibacy and austerity observed by his pilgrims rather than a warrior or overtly royal image.

Born to defeat the demoness Mahishi, who could only be killed by a child born of both Vishnu and Shiva, he was found as an infant with a bell around his neck and raised by King Rajasekhara of the Pandalam kingdom, a devotee of Shiva. He later fought and killed Mahishi at the bank of the Azhutha river, and this decisive victory is central to his identity as a warrior-ascetic protector.

Son of Shiva and Vishnu in his Mohini avatar; raised by the human king Rajasekhara of Pandalam, whose kingdom remains closely tied to the Sabarimala pilgrimage tradition.

His pilgrimage season, centred on the forty-one day Vratham observed before the ascent to Sabarimala, requires strict celibacy, vegetarianism and austerity from pilgrims (who are themselves addressed as "Ayyappan" for the duration), and draws tens of millions of devotees annually, making it among the largest pilgrimages anywhere in the world.

His principal shrine at Sabarimala is in Kerala, but devotion to him, and observance of the pilgrimage vow, extends across South India and among the Malayali diaspora worldwide.