Stories 1

All kinds Origin Legend Local story Folk tale From the epics Festival story Temple legend In stone and bronze How a tradition frames it

Everywhere Pan-India 94 South India 66 West India 30 East India 22 North India 15 The Himalaya 12 Northeast India 5 Southeast Asia 4 Central India 4

Tradition: Folk · clear

Temple legend · 4 tellings · contested

The birth of Ayyappa

Brahma's boon to Mahishi — that only a child of Vishnu and Shiva can kill her — forces Vishnu to take the Mohini form; Shiva's desire for Mohini yields a son, found and raised by the king of Pandalam, who kills Mahishi and takes his seat at Sabarimala.

Brahma, Vishnu, Mohini, Shiva

Pan-India South India