Lord Ayyappa is the presiding deity of Sabarimala temple in Kerala, India. Lord Ayyappa (in Malayalam language pronounced as 'Ayyappan') is worshipped as a child at Kulathupuzha temple in Kerala and in Achan Kovil temple along with his consorts Pushkala and Poorna and in Sabarimala as an ascetic meditating for the well being of all mankind. The Lord is considered to be the reincarnation of Sree Dharma Sastha referred to in the ancient texts of Hinduism. In Lord Ayyappa, we visualize Lord Shiva (The Lord of Destruction) and Lord Vishnu (The Lord of Sustenance) in a unified form. The word Ayyappa is derived from two words Ayya meaning Vishnu and Appa meaning Shiva.The worship of Lord Ayyappa enunciates the great Advaita principle of 'Tat Tvam Asi' meaning 'Thou art That or That is You'. It means you are part of the Universal Soul (Paramatma). It also means that for reaching the Paramatma or Universal Soul you search in yourself i.e the Jeevatma (Life soul present in you). It is because of this concept that in Sabarimala every devotee is addressed as Swami (Lord) or Ayyappan or Malikappuram and the temple is open to all irrespective of his or her religion, caste, creed or colour of the skin. One of the significant rituals performed in the Sabarimala temple is the 'Neyyabhishekam' or pouring of the sacred and pure ghee brought in the Irumudikettu (the double pouched cloth bag carried on the head by the pilgrims visiting Sabarimala) on the idol of Lord Ayyappa. It symbolically means the merging of Jeevatma and Paramatma.
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