The tiger is associated with Lord Ayyappan of Sabarimala, who was born by the union of Lord Shiva with Mohini (incarnation of Lord Vishnu). According to legend, Ayyappan, was found by a king and queen on the banks of a river and brought him to their palace. When the queen had a child of her own, she became jealous of Ayyappan and planned to get him killed. She pretended to be ill and sent Ayyappan to fetch tiger’s milk to cure her illness. She expected him to be killed by the tigers and was surprised to see Ayyappan return to the palace riding on a tiger, with the other tigers following him.