Lord Ayyappa was the son of Vishnu & Shiva Lord Ayyappa is a very popular Hindu deity, which is mainly worshipped in South India. He is also spelt as Ayyappa. It is believed that he was born out of the union between Lord Shiva and the mythical Mohini, who is also regarded as an avatar of Lord Vishnu. Therefore, Ayyappa is also called as ‘ Hariharan Puthiran’ which means the son of both Hari or Vishnu and ‘ Haran’ or Shiva.