Harivarasanam (ഹരിവരാസനം) is a Malayalam [1] ashtakam sung as a lullaby to Lord Ayyappan at the Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple, situated in Kerala, India.
Devotees known as Kalladakkoottam (people from Kalladaikurichi) sang this song everywhere in Kerala and it started to become popular throughout the state.
The latter claims the composer as Konnakathu Janaki Amma, which goes on to mention that she composed the keerthanam as an offering to Lord Ayyappa and she had submitted the work to her father, Ananthakrishna Iyer, who was the then Sabarimala Melshanthi (Chief Priest).
[1] A Padmakumar, Ex-TDB president and also a descendant of Konnakathu Janaki Amma, had claimed that the family possess original handwritten notes of the author to prove the authorship.
The reason behind this is believed that back then, people would not write their name when submitting a creative work as an offering at the temple.
The practice has been to recite it at the end of the day's rituals, to put Lord Ayyapa to sleep, and the tradition has continued since.
[1] The song became extremely popular all over southern India, when it was included in the famous Malayalam film Swami Ayyappan in 1975.
During his pilgrimage to Sabarimala in 2017, Yesudas claimed that the words ‘ari’ (enemy) and ‘vimardhanam’ (annihilation) in the lyrics should have been spelt separately, on behalf of the advice and new information he received from a scholar, and he would be happy to re-record it with due corrections.
It is awarded for contributions towards propagation of secularism, equanimity, and universal brotherhood of Sabarimala through music.