Makaravilakku is an annual festival held at the shrine of Sabarimala on Makar Sankranti in Kerala, India. The festival involves the procession of Thiruvabharanam, and a gathering in Sabarimala's hill shrine.
Orgin of Temple
There are many temples of Shasta in and across the globe in South India. In terms of temple history, one of the five Shasta temples built by Lord Parasurama, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, is the Shasta temple at Sabarimala. The other Shasta temples in this group of five include the Ayyappan temples: at Kulathupuzha, where the Shasta appears as a Balaka or child; at Aryankavu, where the lord appears as a Brahmachari or young man; at Achankovil Shastha Temple, where the lord leads the life of the Grihastha Ashrama here and depicts Purna and Pushkalaat Sabarimala with his wives, where the lord is depicted in the Vanapra. where the lord is depicted in the Vanaprastha or form of renunciation; at Ponnambala Medu the lord appears as a "makaravilaku"
Birth History of Lord Ayyappa
In places like Valliyur, Tenkasi, Shengottah, Achankovil and Sivagiri, the leaders of the Pandya dynasty ousted by Thirumala Naicker, the ruler of the former Pandya Empire spanning Madurai, Thirunelveli and Ramanathapuram stayed. They had also established their dominance in parts of Travancore, and the King of Travancore granted some of them belonging to Chempazhanattu Kovil in Sivagiri the right to rule the land of Pandalam, some eight hundred years ago. King Rajashekara, Lord Ayyappan's foster-father was a member of this family.
King Rajashekara was childless and thus did not have any successor to inherit his throne. The hapless king and his wife both prayed unceasingly for a boy to Lord Shiva.
the same time, a demon by the name of Mahishasura undertook severe penance and consequently Lord Brahma was forced to grant his wish that nobody on earth could annihilate him. Emboldened by Brahma's boon, Mahishasura commenced systematic destruction of people and pulverized tribes and communities.
Determined to venge her slain uncle, Mahishi, Mahishasura's sister received a boon from Lord Brahma that no being but Vishnu & Shiva's offspring could destroy her. Mahishi went to Devaloka in due course of time and began threatening the Devas, who in effect implored Lord Vishnu to interfere. Since the boon was that no one could kill Mahishi except the son of Lord Shiva & Vishnu, Lord Vishnu assumed the female persona of Mohini who helped devas prize Amrit away from asuras; it was decided that the male child born from the union of Mohini and Lord Shiva would be placed under the care of the childless devotee of Lord Shiva, King Rajashekhara of Pandalam.
On one of his hunting trips to the forests near River Pampa, as King Rajashekara reclined on the banks of the river mulling over the surrounding natural beauty and waterfalls, he heard the wails of an infant coming from the trees. Surprised, he followed the sounds and came up violently kicking his feet and arms at a beautiful child. Perplexed, the king stood there – he longed to take the child home to his palace.
When King Rajashekhara beheld the divine child, from nowhere a sadhu appeared and ordered him to take the infant to his palace. The mendicant also told him that the child would alleviate the sufferings of his father, and that Rajashekhara would be aware of his divinity when the boy turned twelve. The sadhu instructed the King to call him 'Manikandan,' one with a golden face, as the child was wearing a gold chain.
Rajashekhara took Manikandan home and told his queen about the happenings. They both thought LordShiva had blessed them himself. Everyone but the Diwan, who had entertained hopes to become king after Rajashekhara, rejoiced at the joy of the royal couple.
As a boy, Manikandan was precocious and very intelligent. With his intellect and extraordinary skills, he excelled in martial arts and shastras, and amazed his mentor. Peace and prosperity at Pandalam reigned. Ayyappan's guru finally concluded that the boy was no ordinary mortal but a divine being. After finishing his studies, Manikandan went up to his teacher to give guru dakshina and in effect seek his blessings. As he approached his spiritual master for ashirwaadams, Manikandan was explained by the guru what he had already believed about him, that he was a divine power destined for heroic glory. The guru then beseeched him to give his blind and stupid son vision and voice. Manikandan laid his hands on the son of the guru and the boy acquired eyesight and speech immediately. Requesting to show this miracle to everyone, Manikandan went back to the royal quarters. In the meantime the Queen gave birth to a male child named Raja Rajan. Sensing this extraordinary turn of events was somehow inextricably linked to Manikandan, Rajasekara chose to make him King; he evidently named his eldest son Lord Ayyappan. Everbody, excluding the King's Diwan, was rejoicing. This wily minister, who secretly nursed kingly aspirations, despised Manikandan and devised several schemes including food poisoning to exterminate the divine avatar. Manikandan had a few narrow flights, but his body bore an injury that no one was able to heal. Finally, the young boy is healed by Lord Shiva himself in a healer's garb. His plans foiled, the Diwan told the Queen that succeeding Rajasekara as her own son was alive was extremely inappropriate for Manikandan. Since Arthasastra excuses any misdeed with a noble end, he instigated her to feign illness; he told the Queen that he would have his doctor declare that she could only be healed by adding tigress 'milk. Manikandan would be compelled to go to the forest where he would fall prey to wild animals, or even if he returned home without the mission, the love of Rajasekara for him would be the same as before. Blinded by her loyalty to her own son, the Queen promised to help the Diwan, and claimed she had a terrible headache. The King became concerned and summoned his doctors who had been unable to revive the seemingly ailing Queen. The Diwan's accomplice finally declared that she would only be cured of the disease if a lactating tigress 'milk had been made available. Rajasekara declared giving half of his kingdom to someone who could cure the hapless Princess.
The team of soldiers sent by Rajasekara with the sole purpose of getting the milk returned empty-handed. Manikandan tried to help, but the King would not heed his pleas to go to the forest, citing as reasons the tender age of the boy and the imminent coronation. Unperturbed, Manikandan asked his dad to give him a favor. Rajasekara, ever an indulgent father, instantly relented; the boy seizing the opportunity forced him to let him gather the milk. Manikandan blocked Rajasekara's attempts to assemble a band of brave men to follow him into the forest; he argued that the tigress would leave quietly when she saw the crowd of soldiers Reluctantly Rajasekara, in memory of Lord Shiva, bid farewell to his favorite son and made him take food stocks and three-eyed coconuts.
Lord Shiva's Panchabuthas followed Manikandan closely, as he entered the trees. But on the way, he chanced to witness the demoness Mahishi's atrocities at Devaloka. Outraged by his sense of justice, Manikandan hurled Mahishi down to the earth; she fell on the banks of the Azhutha River. A bloody war soon followed, and in the end Manikandan mounted the chest of Mahishi and began a violent dance that reverberated throughout the earth and the Devaloka. And the Devas were terrified. Mahishi realized that Hari and Haran's son was the divine being upon her, chastened, prostrated before the young child, and died.
Manikandan entered the forest for tigress 'milk after confrontation with Mahishi. He had a Lord Shiva darshan who told him that although he had accomplished the divine plan, he still had one important task to accomplish. Manikandan was reminded of his grief-stricken father and ailing mother; he was also assured of the aid of Lord Indran in obtaining the milk of the much coveted tigress. On Lord Devendran, disguised as a tiger, Manikandan made his way to the Royal Palace; they were followed as tiger by female devas in the form of tigresses and male devas.
The Pandalam people screamed when they saw the boy and the tigers, and they hurriedly sought shelter. Shortly after, the Sanyasi, who had first materialized in the forest before Rajasekara, revealed Manikandan's true identity to the wonder-struck Sovereign when he heard a child's wails once again. The King became quiet and thoughtful, as Manikandan and the tigers approached the palace gates. The boy descended from the back of the tiger and told the solemn King that he was able to get the milk from the tigresses and cure the Queen from the mysterious ailment.
Unable to control himself any longer, Rajasekara fell at the feet of the lad and begged for forgiveness, he had finally seen through the pretense of his Queen; the moment Manikandan left for the forest, her illness had ceased. Manikandan turned twelve years old the day he returned from the mountains.
King Rajasekara wanted to punish his Diwan, since the latter was responsible for the forest exile of his family. However, Manikandan urged restraint; he maintained that everything had unfolded according to the divine order, through the will of God. He also told his father that he would return to Devaloka without fail, as he had completed the mission for which he had produced himself. Before his departure, the lad told the King that he would grant him whatever boon Rajasekara asked for, as he was satisfied with the unflinching trust and devotion of the latter. The King Rajasekara immediately told him they wanted to create a temple in his memory, and beseeched him to suggest an suitable location for the temple. Manikandan aimed for an arrow that dropped at a location called sabari where Dhavam was observed in the era of Sri Rama by a Sanyasini named sabari. Lord Manikandan told the King to build the temple in that place and then he disappeared. Later, acting upon the advice of Saint Agasthya King Rajasekara laid the foundation stone of the temple at Sabarimala. Lord Manikandan, had claimed emphatically that he will grace only those devotees who give Darshan after observing fortyone days' penance or vrtha that requires strict abstinence from family desires and tastes; the devotees are required to adhere to a way of life akin to that of a brahmachari, constantly focusing on the goodness of life. When they make their way up the steep slopes of Sabarimala, they adorn themselves in their heads with three-eyed coconut and food / Aantha Garland, as did the Bhagwan when he went to the forest to fetch tigress milk, and bathed in River Pampa raising Saranam slogans and ascending the eighteen stairs.
In due course of time King Rajasekara completed the building of the shrine and the eighteen sacred stairs leading to the temple complex. As the King mulled over the apparently perplexing task of placing Dharmasastha's idol in the darshan temple, he was reminded of the words of the Lord himself-the Pampa River is a sacred river like the Ganga River, Sabarimala is as sacred as Kasi-Dharmasastha sent Parasuraman, who resurrected the land of Kerala from the bottom of the ocean, to Sabarimala; it was he who carved the image of Lord Ayyyappa.
Millions converge on Sabarimala every year, regardless of caste or religion, with garlands and irumudis, chanting paeans to Lord Ayyappa, bathing in the holy river Pampa, ascending the eighteen stairs, hoping to glimpse Lord Ayyappa, the Dharmasastha.
behind the Makaravilakku
Makaravilakku is part of a religious ritual performed in the past by the tribes in the Ponnambalamedu forest (where Makaravilakku appears) and then secretly continued by The Travancore Devaswom Board. The Makaravilakku has nothing mystical to it. The tribes have been practicing it for over hundreds of years. Actually there is a temple in the Ponnambalamedu, the place is not open to the public it is under the jurisdiction of Kerala's Forest Department. When on Makaram I the Sirius star appears in the sky, these tribes conduct their rituals in that temple too. As in the Sabarimala temple, they also conduct Arathi circling the fire around the Idol. It is carried out in a vessel by lighting camphor and ghee, and is circled three times around the idol. This lamp or fire is what we see from the Sabarimalai temple and name it Makara Jyothi but the real Makaravilakku is the fire in the Ponnabalamedu. The Holy Sun ...... "The Jyothi is a star that appears in the sky on the day of Makarasamkrama above the Ponnambalamedu in the eastern direction of Sabarimala. The lamp lit in the temple during the time of Deeparadhana is known as Makara Vilakku,".
Orgin of Temple
There are many temples of Shasta in and across the globe in South India. In terms of temple history, one of the five Shasta temples built by Lord Parasurama, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, is the Shasta temple at Sabarimala. The other Shasta temples in this group of five include the Ayyappan temples: at Kulathupuzha, where the Shasta appears as a Balaka or child; at Aryankavu, where the lord appears as a Brahmachari or young man; at Achankovil Shastha Temple, where the lord leads the life of the Grihastha Ashrama here and depicts Purna and Pushkalaat Sabarimala with his wives, where the lord is depicted in the Vanapra. where the lord is depicted in the Vanaprastha or form of renunciation; at Ponnambala Medu the lord appears as a "makaravilaku"
Birth History of Lord Ayyappa
In places like Valliyur, Tenkasi, Shengottah, Achankovil and Sivagiri, the leaders of the Pandya dynasty ousted by Thirumala Naicker, the ruler of the former Pandya Empire spanning Madurai, Thirunelveli and Ramanathapuram stayed. They had also established their dominance in parts of Travancore, and the King of Travancore granted some of them belonging to Chempazhanattu Kovil in Sivagiri the right to rule the land of Pandalam, some eight hundred years ago. King Rajashekara, Lord Ayyappan's foster-father was a member of this family.
King Rajashekara was childless and thus did not have any successor to inherit his throne. The hapless king and his wife both prayed unceasingly for a boy to Lord Shiva.
the same time, a demon by the name of Mahishasura undertook severe penance and consequently Lord Brahma was forced to grant his wish that nobody on earth could annihilate him. Emboldened by Brahma's boon, Mahishasura commenced systematic destruction of people and pulverized tribes and communities.
Determined to venge her slain uncle, Mahishi, Mahishasura's sister received a boon from Lord Brahma that no being but Vishnu & Shiva's offspring could destroy her. Mahishi went to Devaloka in due course of time and began threatening the Devas, who in effect implored Lord Vishnu to interfere. Since the boon was that no one could kill Mahishi except the son of Lord Shiva & Vishnu, Lord Vishnu assumed the female persona of Mohini who helped devas prize Amrit away from asuras; it was decided that the male child born from the union of Mohini and Lord Shiva would be placed under the care of the childless devotee of Lord Shiva, King Rajashekhara of Pandalam.
On one of his hunting trips to the forests near River Pampa, as King Rajashekara reclined on the banks of the river mulling over the surrounding natural beauty and waterfalls, he heard the wails of an infant coming from the trees. Surprised, he followed the sounds and came up violently kicking his feet and arms at a beautiful child. Perplexed, the king stood there – he longed to take the child home to his palace.
When King Rajashekhara beheld the divine child, from nowhere a sadhu appeared and ordered him to take the infant to his palace. The mendicant also told him that the child would alleviate the sufferings of his father, and that Rajashekhara would be aware of his divinity when the boy turned twelve. The sadhu instructed the King to call him 'Manikandan,' one with a golden face, as the child was wearing a gold chain.
Rajashekhara took Manikandan home and told his queen about the happenings. They both thought LordShiva had blessed them himself. Everyone but the Diwan, who had entertained hopes to become king after Rajashekhara, rejoiced at the joy of the royal couple.
As a boy, Manikandan was precocious and very intelligent. With his intellect and extraordinary skills, he excelled in martial arts and shastras, and amazed his mentor. Peace and prosperity at Pandalam reigned. Ayyappan's guru finally concluded that the boy was no ordinary mortal but a divine being. After finishing his studies, Manikandan went up to his teacher to give guru dakshina and in effect seek his blessings. As he approached his spiritual master for ashirwaadams, Manikandan was explained by the guru what he had already believed about him, that he was a divine power destined for heroic glory. The guru then beseeched him to give his blind and stupid son vision and voice. Manikandan laid his hands on the son of the guru and the boy acquired eyesight and speech immediately. Requesting to show this miracle to everyone, Manikandan went back to the royal quarters. In the meantime the Queen gave birth to a male child named Raja Rajan. Sensing this extraordinary turn of events was somehow inextricably linked to Manikandan, Rajasekara chose to make him King; he evidently named his eldest son Lord Ayyappan. Everbody, excluding the King's Diwan, was rejoicing. This wily minister, who secretly nursed kingly aspirations, despised Manikandan and devised several schemes including food poisoning to exterminate the divine avatar. Manikandan had a few narrow flights, but his body bore an injury that no one was able to heal. Finally, the young boy is healed by Lord Shiva himself in a healer's garb. His plans foiled, the Diwan told the Queen that succeeding Rajasekara as her own son was alive was extremely inappropriate for Manikandan. Since Arthasastra excuses any misdeed with a noble end, he instigated her to feign illness; he told the Queen that he would have his doctor declare that she could only be healed by adding tigress 'milk. Manikandan would be compelled to go to the forest where he would fall prey to wild animals, or even if he returned home without the mission, the love of Rajasekara for him would be the same as before. Blinded by her loyalty to her own son, the Queen promised to help the Diwan, and claimed she had a terrible headache. The King became concerned and summoned his doctors who had been unable to revive the seemingly ailing Queen. The Diwan's accomplice finally declared that she would only be cured of the disease if a lactating tigress 'milk had been made available. Rajasekara declared giving half of his kingdom to someone who could cure the hapless Princess.
The team of soldiers sent by Rajasekara with the sole purpose of getting the milk returned empty-handed. Manikandan tried to help, but the King would not heed his pleas to go to the forest, citing as reasons the tender age of the boy and the imminent coronation. Unperturbed, Manikandan asked his dad to give him a favor. Rajasekara, ever an indulgent father, instantly relented; the boy seizing the opportunity forced him to let him gather the milk. Manikandan blocked Rajasekara's attempts to assemble a band of brave men to follow him into the forest; he argued that the tigress would leave quietly when she saw the crowd of soldiers Reluctantly Rajasekara, in memory of Lord Shiva, bid farewell to his favorite son and made him take food stocks and three-eyed coconuts.
Lord Shiva's Panchabuthas followed Manikandan closely, as he entered the trees. But on the way, he chanced to witness the demoness Mahishi's atrocities at Devaloka. Outraged by his sense of justice, Manikandan hurled Mahishi down to the earth; she fell on the banks of the Azhutha River. A bloody war soon followed, and in the end Manikandan mounted the chest of Mahishi and began a violent dance that reverberated throughout the earth and the Devaloka. And the Devas were terrified. Mahishi realized that Hari and Haran's son was the divine being upon her, chastened, prostrated before the young child, and died.
Manikandan entered the forest for tigress 'milk after confrontation with Mahishi. He had a Lord Shiva darshan who told him that although he had accomplished the divine plan, he still had one important task to accomplish. Manikandan was reminded of his grief-stricken father and ailing mother; he was also assured of the aid of Lord Indran in obtaining the milk of the much coveted tigress. On Lord Devendran, disguised as a tiger, Manikandan made his way to the Royal Palace; they were followed as tiger by female devas in the form of tigresses and male devas.
The Pandalam people screamed when they saw the boy and the tigers, and they hurriedly sought shelter. Shortly after, the Sanyasi, who had first materialized in the forest before Rajasekara, revealed Manikandan's true identity to the wonder-struck Sovereign when he heard a child's wails once again. The King became quiet and thoughtful, as Manikandan and the tigers approached the palace gates. The boy descended from the back of the tiger and told the solemn King that he was able to get the milk from the tigresses and cure the Queen from the mysterious ailment.
Unable to control himself any longer, Rajasekara fell at the feet of the lad and begged for forgiveness, he had finally seen through the pretense of his Queen; the moment Manikandan left for the forest, her illness had ceased. Manikandan turned twelve years old the day he returned from the mountains.
King Rajasekara wanted to punish his Diwan, since the latter was responsible for the forest exile of his family. However, Manikandan urged restraint; he maintained that everything had unfolded according to the divine order, through the will of God. He also told his father that he would return to Devaloka without fail, as he had completed the mission for which he had produced himself. Before his departure, the lad told the King that he would grant him whatever boon Rajasekara asked for, as he was satisfied with the unflinching trust and devotion of the latter. The King Rajasekara immediately told him they wanted to create a temple in his memory, and beseeched him to suggest an suitable location for the temple. Manikandan aimed for an arrow that dropped at a location called sabari where Dhavam was observed in the era of Sri Rama by a Sanyasini named sabari. Lord Manikandan told the King to build the temple in that place and then he disappeared. Later, acting upon the advice of Saint Agasthya King Rajasekara laid the foundation stone of the temple at Sabarimala. Lord Manikandan, had claimed emphatically that he will grace only those devotees who give Darshan after observing fortyone days' penance or vrtha that requires strict abstinence from family desires and tastes; the devotees are required to adhere to a way of life akin to that of a brahmachari, constantly focusing on the goodness of life. When they make their way up the steep slopes of Sabarimala, they adorn themselves in their heads with three-eyed coconut and food / Aantha Garland, as did the Bhagwan when he went to the forest to fetch tigress milk, and bathed in River Pampa raising Saranam slogans and ascending the eighteen stairs.
In due course of time King Rajasekara completed the building of the shrine and the eighteen sacred stairs leading to the temple complex. As the King mulled over the apparently perplexing task of placing Dharmasastha's idol in the darshan temple, he was reminded of the words of the Lord himself-the Pampa River is a sacred river like the Ganga River, Sabarimala is as sacred as Kasi-Dharmasastha sent Parasuraman, who resurrected the land of Kerala from the bottom of the ocean, to Sabarimala; it was he who carved the image of Lord Ayyyappa.
Millions converge on Sabarimala every year, regardless of caste or religion, with garlands and irumudis, chanting paeans to Lord Ayyappa, bathing in the holy river Pampa, ascending the eighteen stairs, hoping to glimpse Lord Ayyappa, the Dharmasastha.
behind the Makaravilakku
Makaravilakku is part of a religious ritual performed in the past by the tribes in the Ponnambalamedu forest (where Makaravilakku appears) and then secretly continued by The Travancore Devaswom Board. The Makaravilakku has nothing mystical to it. The tribes have been practicing it for over hundreds of years. Actually there is a temple in the Ponnambalamedu, the place is not open to the public it is under the jurisdiction of Kerala's Forest Department. When on Makaram I the Sirius star appears in the sky, these tribes conduct their rituals in that temple too. As in the Sabarimala temple, they also conduct Arathi circling the fire around the Idol. It is carried out in a vessel by lighting camphor and ghee, and is circled three times around the idol. This lamp or fire is what we see from the Sabarimalai temple and name it Makara Jyothi but the real Makaravilakku is the fire in the Ponnabalamedu. The Holy Sun ...... "The Jyothi is a star that appears in the sky on the day of Makarasamkrama above the Ponnambalamedu in the eastern direction of Sabarimala. The lamp lit in the temple during the time of Deeparadhana is known as Makara Vilakku,".