KOCHI: For the past five decades, the Sabarimala hill shrine has been closing by playing the song Harivarasanam through loud speakers. It is a nostalgic tradition for devotees who term the song the lullaby of Lord Ayyappa.
While there is no clinching evidence regarding the author of the song, there are claims that Kambangudi Kulathur Srinivasa Iyer wrote it. Another claim says that the song was penned by Purakkad Konnakath Janaki Amma, daughter of Anantha Krishna Iyer, an oracle, in 1923.
It is believed that the ashtakam was first rendered at Sabarimala in 1955 by Swami Vimochanananda. This was after the reconstruction of the temple following the fire of 1950. In those days, only a few ardent devotees managed to trek through the dense forest and reach the hill shrine.
In 1975, Merryland Subramanian produced the movie Swami Ayyappan, and Harivarasanam was included in the movie as per the wish of his son Karthikeyan. Music director G Devarajan composed the song and K J Yesudas sung it.
As the song became popular, the Travancore Devaswom Board announced the decision to play it at the Sabarimala temple. Though the version sung by Yesudas is played, marking the end of the poojas, a different version is sung by the priests in front of the sanctum santorum.
The popular rendition goes ‘Harivarasanam Viswamohanam...’, while the version sung in front of the deity is ‘Harivarasanam Swami Viswamohanam...’. The word Swami is repeated in each line.
In 2017, the devaswom board had decided to rerecord the song, replacing the popular version with the one sung in front of the deity. But the move was dropped following protests.