Sri Ayyappa Swamy Stotram

Five verses of salutation

The Sri Ayyappa Swamy Stotram is a short hymn of five verses. Each sketches one aspect of Ayyappa and closes with vandeham, I bow to him. The text does not name its author. It ends with the call every Sabarimala pilgrim knows, Om Sri Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa.

Form and weapons

Verse 1, arunodaya sankasham, gives him the red glow of dawn, blue earrings and blue garments. Verse 2 places a bow and arrow in his left hand and the chinmudra in his right, the gesture of knowledge seen in the seated image at Sabarimala. Verse 3, vyaghrarudham, shows him riding a tiger, red-eyed and wearing a gold garland, which devotees connect with the story of the tiger's milk brought for the Pandalam queen.

The hunter and Manikanta

Verse 4 praises him as Shasta in the form of a kirata, a hunter, adorned with small bells and with a face like the full moon. Verse 5 calls him Manikanta, served by bhutas and vetalas and dwelling on the golden mountain.

The nandanam endings

The five verses close in turn on Brahma nandanam, Vishnu nandanam, Shambhu nandanam, Pandya nandanam and Shakti nandanam. Through these endings the hymn salutes him as the son of Hari and Hara and as the child raised by the Pandya line of Pandalam. Devotees on the 41-day mandala vratam chant it at morning and evening puja.