Eventually, Ayyappan’s guru concluded that the boy was no ordinary mortal but a divine being. Peace and prosperity reigned in Pandalam. He excelled in martial arts and shastras and surprised his guru with his brilliance and superhuman talents. All except the Diwan who had entertained hopes of becoming king after Rajashekhara, dejected in the royal couple’s happiness.Īs a child, Manikandan was very intelligent and precocious. They both felt that they had been blessed by Lord Shiva himself. As the child was wearing a gold chain, the sadhu directed the King to name him ‘Manikandan’ – one with a golden neck.Įcstatic, Rajashekhara took Manikandan home and narrated the happenings to his queen. Also the mendicant assured him that the child would mitigate his dynasty’s sufferings and that when the boy turned twelve, Rajashekhara would be aware of his divinity. Whilst King Rajashekhara beheld the divine child, a sadhu appeared from nowhere and instructed him to take the infant to his palace. The king stood there, perplexed – he longed to take the child home to his palace. Astounded, he followed the sounds and came upon a beautiful child furiously kicking its feet and arms. On one of his hunting trips to the forests near River Pampa, as King Rajashekara reclined on the banks of river mulling over the natural beauty of the surroundings and waterfalls, he heard an infant’s wails from the forest. As the boon was that nobody except the son of Lord Shiva & Vishnu could kill Mahishi, Lord Vishnu assumed the female persona of Mohini who helped the devas prize Amrit away from the asuras it was decided that the male child born out of the union of Mohini and Lord Shiva would be placed under the care of Lord Shiva’s childless devotee, King Rajashekhara of Pandalam. In due course of time, Mahishi went to Devaloka and began harassing the Devas who in turn implored Lord Vishnu to intervene.
Realizing that only a superhuman power could exterminate the wayward Mahishasura, the devas appealed to Goddess Durga, who killed him in a bloody battle.ĭetermined to avenge her slain brother, Mahishi, the sister of Mahishasura secured a boon from Lord Brahma that no being except the offspring of Vishnu (Hari) & Shiva (Haran) could slay her. Terrorized and fearing his wrath, people fled to distant lands.
Emboldened by Brahma’s boon, Mahishasura commenced systematic destruction of people and pulverized tribes and communities.
Both the hapless king and his queen prayed ceaselessly to Lord Shiva for a child.Īround the same time, a demon by the name of Mahishasura undertook severe penance (tapas) and consequently Lord Brahma was forced to grant his wish that nobody on earth could annihilate him. But the king had one sorrow – he was childless and thus had no heir to inherit his throne. Under him, the region was witnessing a golden age. King Rajashekara, the foster-father of Lord Ayyappa belonged to this dynasty.Ī just and precocious sovereign King Rajashekara was held by his subjects in high esteem. They had also established their supremacy in parts of Travancore, and some of them belonging to Chempazhanattu Kovil in Sivagiri were given the right to rule the country of Pandalam by the King of Travancore, some eight hundred years ago. The members of Pandya dynasty ousted by Thirumala Naicker the ruler of the erstwhile Pandya Empire spanning Madurai, Thirunelveli and Ramanathapuram lived in places like Valliyur, Tenkasi, Shengottah, Achankovil and Sivagiri.
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