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Ayyanar is a popular Hindu village god of Tamil Nadu. However, while I was reading up on him , I found out there he was actually Ayyappa, who is said to be the son of Shiva. However, he is generally believed to be a avatar of Shiva. How is Ayyannar related to Shiva?

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    Ayyanar is the Tamil name for the god Dharma Shasta, who is the son of Shiva and Vishnu's incarnation Mohini. But note that Ayyappa is not the same as Dharma Shasta. Ayyappa refers to prince Manikandan of Pandalam, who was a human incarnation of the god Dharma Shasta. Dharma Shasta was born long ago, but Ayyappa was born relatively recently, as I discuss here: http://hinduism.stackexchange.com/q/10134/36 – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 04 '16 at 06:06
  • @Keshav Srinivasan "Ayyanar is the Tamil name for the god Dharma Shasta, who is the son of Shiva and Vishnu's incarnation Mohini."Are there any scriptures that state that Ayyannar is Shiva's son and not avatar?I am confused as generally,Tamils(who worship Ayyannar) believe that Ayyannar is Shiva's avatar rather than his son. –  Nov 04 '16 at 08:06
  • @Keshav Srinivasan Also,where is it stated that Ayyappa is not Dharma Shasta but his incarnation? –  Nov 04 '16 at 08:28
  • @K Vickneshvara Ayyannar was not the incarnation of lord Shiva, he was born to lord Shiva and Mohini(an Avatar of lord Vishnu). – Omkar Reddy Nov 04 '16 at 11:34
  • This might be helpful to you. I don't know whether it's authentic or not. It's what I used to hearing since childhood. But the link didn't explain how lord Dharma Shastha was born actually. It just explained that lord Shiva converted him into child and reached river Pampa. – Omkar Reddy Nov 04 '16 at 12:04
  • @Ganesh.R The link wasn't even about Ayyannar –  Nov 05 '16 at 02:26
  • @Ganesh.R Do you have any scriptures that claim that Ayyannar is the son and not avatar of Shiva? –  Nov 05 '16 at 02:30
  • @KVickneshvara Ayyannar and Dharma Shasta are the same. – Omkar Reddy Nov 05 '16 at 03:47
  • @Ganesh.R Do you have any scriptures that prove that? –  Nov 05 '16 at 13:32

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