Sabarimala temple gets a new name

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The hill abode of Lord Ayyappan has been named Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple. More than a year ago on October 5, 2016, the earlier Travancore Devaswom Board chaired by Prayar Gopalakrishnan, reportedly without securing the knowledge of the LDF government, had rechristened the shrine as Sabarimala Sree Ayyappaswamy Temple.

Then, it was alleged that the change of name was an attempt by the Board to strengthen its stand in Supreme Court against the entry of women. (The argument was by calling the temple in Ayyappan's name would differentiate it from Dharma Sastha temples that allowed entry to women.) The move had angered devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran as the LDF government had taken a stand in favour of women’s entry.

While the new Board claims that it has only reverted to the original name, former Board member Ajay Tharayil argues that there are no official records to show that the temple was called Dharma Sastha Temple. “It was called Sabarimala Temple and the former Board felt that it was fitting to name the shrine Sabarimala Sree Ayyappaswamy Temple. The devotees climb the hill as 'Ayyappa Swamy' to worship Ayyappan,” Mr Tharayil said. Tharayil also makes a distinction between Ayyappan and Sree Dharma Sastha. According to him, Ayyappan, just like Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu, is an avatar of Dharma Sastha.

He said the Dharma Sastha legend dates back to before the 11th century, before the birth of Lord Ayyappan. Ayyappan was born on in 1158 AD, and reached ‘samadhi’ as a teenager, at 16. “Moreover, the Dharma Sastha idol was installed by Parasurama at Ponnambalamedu, the highest peak of the Sabarimala hills and some 2000 ft above the Sabarimala shrine. (Lore has it that Parasurama had installed eight Dharma Sastha idols in eight locations across Western Ghats.)

Ayyappan, on the other hand, has strong links to the Pandalam and Poonjar royal families. It was only after the killing of the demoness Mahishi that the boy Ayyappan came to the spot where the shrine now stands. Till 1820 AD, the Pandalam kings had conducted pooja at the temple once in a year. 

Mr Tharayil said the decision to rename the shrine was born out of ignorance and termed it a “communist conspiracy”.