Ayyapan - The Celibate God of Kerala, is host to every religious trend and practice the Hindu faith ever manifested in its entire history. This makes the state a living museum of sorts and ideal ground of discovering the many transformations that the faith has undergone in its process of evolution. Nothing exemplifies this more than the cult figure Ayyapan, whose temple-festival has rapidly grown to become one of the most important religious events of contemporary Hindu India. The temple is open for only about fifty days a year and it pulls in the highest amount of donations from the faithful, overtaking all the well established ones with ease.

There are many reasons for this, but a very important one is that the god Ayyapan is the ultimate composite god and religious reconciler. The temple is unique in all India, in that there is no distinction of caste or religion in determining who can enter it. Non-Hindus are equally welcome, though their number is small given the issues the Semitic faiths have when they see what they mistakenly perceive to be an idol. It might be more instructive to talk about the mythic origins of Ayyapan first, before we explore the history, as the mythic story always has a deeper resonance as well as more significant spiritual truth in India. The story however, is not an all India story, being confined to South India till the mid-twentieth century.

Ayyapan was born out of a crisis that overtook the gods. The asura princess Mahishi was burning up with anger at the dirty trick the gods had pulled on her brother the asura king Mahisasura. Blessed with invulnerability to all men, the gods had sent a woman, the goddess Durga, to fight and kill him. (See our section on Durga for the full story.) Mahishi therefore began performing a fearsome set of austerities, and so surpassed all records in that grim tapasya or askesis, that Brahma The Creator had really no option but to give her what she wanted. Her boon was to rule the universe and to be invulnerable except to a being that had the combined strength of both Shiva and Vishnu. Since such a person did not exist, she thought she was safe and began the usual asura career of conquest and plunder. In passing let it be said that Mahishi strikes a note in mythology that was last seen only in Mesopotamia, that of the Cosmic Villainess, like Tiamat, the Mother-Serpent.

The gods implore Shiva and Vishnu to save them from this catastrophe. To be beaten is bad enough but to be beaten by a woman! The two great gods really do not know what to do until from the ever-active mind of the great Vishnu comes a possible solution. It is a dicey solution, for it throws up a lot of issues that Hindu society is still very uncomfortable with. When Vishnu had taken on the Coorma Avatar, he also had to manifest himself as Mohini, the enchantress, to save the nectar of immortality from the demons who were not willing to share it with the gods. If he became Mohini again, then the female Mohini and the male Shiva could have the divine child who would combine their powers and beat this Mahishi. The trouble with Mohini is that she instantly destroys all inhibitions and you no longer care what you are about. There was no other option however so they went ahead.

Shiva had his doubts initially as he was a yogi and self-controlled as well as being committed to his wife Parvati. When the Mohini form was before him however, the myths are very clear that he was bedazzled instantly. There are many wall paintings in Kerala, charged with erotic intensity, that depict this moment. Parvati is gazing upon the amorous Shiva and Mohini hot with jealous anger, yet she is also accepting of the situation as there is really nothing else to be done. As to the questions they raise about gender identities and sexual orientations, the pious Indian response has always been to state these things blandly and never think about them.

They deposit the divine child in the hunting trail of a Shiva devotee, the raja of Panthalam in ancient Kerala. This pious king was childless and the gods not only rewarded him for his faith with such a divine child; they also ensured the child would get adequate weapons training as a prince while still hidden from Mahishi's ever suspicious and vigilant gaze. The child was famous for never crying and always laughing, a sound that was so pleasing and auspicious that he was named Manikanthan - the bell-throated. This has been taken to comically real lengths in a serial that is currently showing on a Malayalam television channel. The poor actor has an actual bell perpetually affixed to his throat!

The boy turns out to be a universal favorite as well as a great hero, while he has not even reached his teens. He is simply unstoppable as a martial force, and the ever-wandering Parashurama, the patron deity of Kerala, is supposed to have trained him too in the fighting arts. Then the disaster occurs. The queen has a baby of her own, and she begins to worry that this foundling will prevent the true heir from ever ascending the throne. She is encouraged in these thoughts by the Prime Minister or divan, who finds Manikanthan's independence, popularity and sense of justice to be irksome. They hatch a plot that Manikanthan is not deceived by for a moment, but he plays along as it helps him to fulfill his destiny.

The queen feigns severe illness, and a complaisant royal physician prescribes fresh tigress milk to be the vital ingredient in a miracle cure he has. Belling this cat is a task that is literally impossible, but Manikanthan volunteers for it. He is only sixteen years old at the time, the generic age for heroes in the Indian tradition. The king is not really convinced about what is going on, but he had long come to an understanding that his son was peculiar in a rather awesome sort of way. The young prince leaves for his beloved forest to catch and milk a tigress. In the forest his destiny is waiting, for Mahishi has made a private pleasure garden out of one of its sections, and into this the young hero boldly ventures. The first few guards are routed, then she throws her army at him and finally, she too takes a hand. To no avail. It is the most dreadful fight in all Hindu mythology. Finally, they throw away their weapons and descend to hand-to-hand combat. Like her brother, Mahishi takes on a buffalo-form for supreme combat, but Manikanthan breaks her neck and back anyway.

As soon as the buffalo form dies, a spirit arises from the corpse. A Yaksha princess had been cursed to become a demon until redeemed by a supremely powerful form of god. The young lady was of a strikingly bashful disposition. She was celibate by choice, but during the course of the battle the prince had embraced her many times as they wrestled and struggled together. A chaste woman could be so held only by her husband so she would be greatly obliged if the victor would marry her and remove all trace of impropriety! Manikanthan was in a fix, as he had no desire to get married, being a celibate by instinct, choice and desire. (Celibacy is supposed to grant tremendous power, both physical and spiritual). Yet the young lady had a valid point.