[6] Temples to Aiyanar in the countryside are usually flanked by gigantic colourful statues of him and his companions riding horses or elephants.

[15][4][16] The earliest references to Ayyanar were discovered in the hero stones of hunting chieftains from Arcot, Tamil Nadu dated back to the 3rd century C.E.

The phrase in the inscriptions which could be translated into "Ayyanappan; a shrine to Cattan" confirms that Ayyan and Chattan were the names of a single deity.

[13] A rock carving of a man and horse in the Isurumuniya Buddhist temple of Sri Lanka, is identified with Ayyanar.

[17] Sinhala Buddhists of Sri Lanka praise him in the form of a folk deity called Ayyanayake to the date.

It narrates the history of Hariharasuta, son of Hari and Hara, who was born to Shiva during his copulation with Mohini, the feminised form of Vishnu, after the churning of the milk sea.

[13] Sivagama corpus of southern Shaiva Siddhanta including Pūrva Kāraṇa, Amṣūmatbhēda, Suprabhēda, also have many references to the iconography of Sastha.

Ishana Siva Guru Paddhati, Kulala Sastragama and Shilparatna explain his worship and iconography briefly.

He also states that the term aayar meaning a cow herder and a protector is an appropriate appellation for both the Ay chieftains and their clan deity.

[11] Tamil Sangam literature often mention poets and traders with the name Chattan, who might have revered Sastha as their clan deity.

[13] Appar (7th century CE), Saivite Nayanar and one of the initiators of the Tamil Bhakti movement, praises Shiva as the father of Chattan in his Tevaram (Tirumurai, 4:32:4).

Here Ayyan, Kanda puranam tells, sends his chief commander Mahakala to protect Indrani from the demon Surapadman.

Shilparatna describes him with only one wife called Prabha and their eight years old lad known as Satyakan[26] Folklore regards Aiyan as the guardian of the villages, riding on either an elephant or horse.

Aiyanar images installed in villages are usually gigantic and they are identical with the Bhuta like iconography of Sastha given in Subrabheda Agama.

[28] According to researchers Eliza Kent, Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai, the legends in the Ayyappa tradition seem to be "artificially mixed and assembled into a kind of collage"[29] and "he should have emerged from a Dravidian god of tribal provenance".

Ayyanar shrines are usually located at the peripheries or boundaries of rural villages and the deity is seen riding a horse with a sword or whip.