Shadow and Light

Ayyappa is the half-brother of Ganesha and Subramanyam. Ganesha and Subramanyam’s mother is Siva’s wife Parvati.  Ayyappa’s mother is Siva’s brother Vishnu while he was the woman Mohini.  Even in the glossed over versions that don’t get into what a modern reader might think of Ayyappa’s mother, he is the extra and unwanted child of…