P. ജയചന്ദ്രൻ ആലപിച്ച ഈ വർഷത്തെ ഏറ്റവും പുതിയ അയ്യപ്പ ഭക്തിഗാനങ്ങൾ

Album: Sastharam Pranamamyaham || ശാസ്‌താരം പ്രണമാമ്യഹം
Lyrics : Ratheesh Chandran & Elavoor Sunil
Music : Biju k Karunakaran & P. Suryadev
Singers : Madhu Balakrishnan, G. Venugopal, Pranavam Sankaran
Namboothiri And P jayachandran

Ayyappan (also called Sastavu , Manikandan or Sasta) is a Hindu deity who is believed to be an incarnation of Dharma Sasta, the offspring of Shiva and Vishnu (in the form of Mohini, his only female avatar), He is generally depicted in a yogic posture, wearing a jewel around his neck, hence named Manikandan,Literally meaning "With bell around the neck".

By the 20th century, there has been an increase in the number of worshipers of Ayyappan from many different groups, spurred by vast improvements in transport and communication in southern India.

Ayyappan's annual festival is a time of pilgrimage for ever-growing numbers of men from throughout South India. The most prominent and famous Ayyappan shrine is the one at Sabarimala, in the hills of Pathanamthitta in Kerala, with over 30 million devotees visiting it every year, making it one of the largest pilgrimage sites in the world. These devotees fast and engage in austerities under the leadership of a Periya Swami (one who has undertaken the pilgrimage to Sabarimala for 18 years) for weeks beforehand and then travel in groups to the shrine for a glimpse of Ayyappan. Bus tickets are hard to obtain for several weeks as masses of elated men, clad in distinctive ritual dhotis of saffron, black and light blue colors, throng public transportation during their trip to the shrine.

The name "sri Ayyappan" is used as a respectful form of address in the Tamil and Malayalam languages. The Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil sentence Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa can be translated as, "Oh Ayyappa! I seek refuge in you"