On Sabarimala Temple Tour, you will witness the fine instance of religious  tolerance  and  communal  harmony. Near the Sabarimala Temple is the shrine of Vavar, a Muslim friend and  devotee  of  Lord  Ayyappa.  Pilgrims who visit the Sabarimala Temple also pay obeisance at the shrine of Vavar.Sabarimala Temple does not believe in the boundaries of class, caste and region. The scenic destinations of Sabarimala  can  be  visited  year  round, and it is quieter and less crowded during non-pilgrimage season.

Legend:- The legend of Sabarimala states that King Rajshekhara, a direct descendant of the  Pandya  dynasty, ruled over Pandalam. He was childless and was forever worried as to  who  will  succeed  him  after  his  death. Once, while returning from a hunting expedition, he heard the cries of a child in the forest, near the Pamba river. He followed the sound of cry and finally saw a child with golden chain and bell  around  his  neck. The  king  fell into a dilemma whether he should carry the child back with him to the palace or not. At this point of time, a sage intervened and asked him to take the child home and name him  Manikandan. He  also  informed  the  king  that when the child attains twelve years of age, the king will know his divine history.

The king was overjoyed and returned with the child. The queen was very happy seeing the child,  however, one person who could not  take  the  arrival  with  joy  was  the  deewan  of  Pandalam. He  had  his  own  plans  of succeeding Rajshekhara and now his ambitions were in serious danger as the child was exceedingly brilliant and capable. By this time the queen had given birth to a son of her own. The deewan contrived with the queen, who in order to see her own son king, feigned illness. The  physician,  as  per  the  deewan's  instruction, advised  the king that only a tigress milk could cure the queen of her ailment. Hearing this Manikandan, who was just  twelve years at that point of time, insisted that he be allowed to go and fetch the milk for his mother. The king  allowed, though   reluctantly.  Enroute,  Manikandan   also  killed  Mahishi  who  was  committing  atrocities  on  Devlok. Thereafter, Lord Shiva appeared before Manikandan and offered to accompany him along with other devas  as tiger and tigress. Manikanadan agreed and returned with  a  bunch  of  tigress.  King  Rajshekhara  realized  the divine power of Manikandan and became aware that he was incarnation of Dhramasastha

Before leaving for devlok, Manikandan selected a place for his temple by aiming an  arrow.  King  Rajshekhara himself laid the foundation of the temple at the place, Sabari. Manikandan  also  made  it  clear  that  only  those devotees who could carry on Vritha for 41 days will be blessed by him. During this period the devotees  had  to devoid themselves of all the carnal pleasure and eat vegetarian food. Also, the devotees  needed  to  carry  holy irumudi (a cloth bag containing puja and personal material)  on  their  head  in  a  similar  manner  as  he  himself carried it while going to forest. Moreover, the devotees will require to bathe in river Pampa shouting  slogans  of Saranam and ascend the 18 holy steps.

As per the instructions of God, Rajshekhera completed the temple and called Parsuraman to  carve  a  figure  of Lord Ayyappa, the Dharmasastha. The image was installed on the pious day of Makar Sankranthi.

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