Lord Ayyappa of Sabarimala
Ayyappa Charitam
The sacred story of Lord Ayyappa — from a primordial curse to the founding of the Sabarimala temple — in lyrical English.
Overview
It began with a curse. When Dtta and Leela — son of the sage Atri and daughter of Galvan — cursed each other in fury, the consequences rippled forward through time: Leela was transformed into the fearsome Mahishi, and from that supernatural upheaval came the circumstances that would lead to the birth of Dharma Sasta and, ultimately, Lord Ayyappa of Sabarimala.
Originally composed in lyrical Malayalam by V. Madhavan Nair — known affectionately as Mali — this telling follows the Lord from his advent through the founding of the great temple at Sabarimala, one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in India. Parvathi Ramkumar, Mali's granddaughter, has brought the story into English, carrying forward both the devotional spirit and the narrative arc of the original.
For millions of devotees and for readers who want to understand the divine biography behind one of Kerala's most powerful temples, this translation makes an important Malayalam work accessible for the first time.
It all began when the married couple Dtta, the son of Atri and Anasuya, and Lella, the daughter of Galvan, cursed each other in a fit of rage. With that curse, Leela was transformed into the fearsome Mahishi-thus paving the way for the birth of Dharma Sasta, and later of Lord Ayyappa of Sabarimala. Originally written in lyrical Malayalam by V. Madhavan Nair, popularly known as 'Mali', and translated into English by his granddaughter Parvathi Ramkumar, Lord Ayyappa of Sabarimala narrates the story of Lord Ayyappa from the time of his advent to the establishment of the great temple at Sabarimala.
