Ayyappan

Ayyappan (Malayalam: അയ്യപ്പന്‍) (also called Sastavu, or Sasta) is a Hindu deity worshiped in a number of shrines across India. Ayyappan is believed to be an incarnation of Dharma Sasta, who is the offspring of Shiva and Vishnu (as Mohini, is the only female avatar of the God Vishnu ) and is generally depicted in a yogic posture, wearing a bell around his neck, hence named Manikantan. Ayyappan may bear a historical relationship to the tutelary deity Aiyanar in Tamil Nadu.