What is the reason behind carrying an irumudi to Sabarimala?

We all know that the irumudi consists of ghee coconut, i.e ghee poured into coconuts by piercing one eye of the coconut. But why and how did this tradition follow?

Reason 1

As per the Legend the wife of Panthala Maharaja was faking a headache, so they can send off Manikandan to the forest to bring Tigress milk. The kind hearted King of Panthala was against it, however he had to send away Manikanda to bring the Tigress milk that can cure the queen’s headache. It is believed that Kind Rajashekara packed some goodies made of ghee and also sent some coconuts in a bag to be carried by Manikanda on his head. The goodies were made of ghee as it would not rot away soon. The coconut was given as a symbol of Lord Shiva with three eyes. (The king of Panthala was a lord Shiva devotee). The little boy Manikanda left to the forest with this erumudi (2 packings) on his head to bring Tigress milk for the Queen.

Reason 2

Manikanda decided to leave the Kingdom and stay at Sabarimala. However his father, the King of Panthala visited his son once in a year. In those days there were no buses or trains connecting Sabarimala from panthala. So the maharaja had to walk all the way to see his son. How could a father visit his son without taking gifts that his son likes? So it is believed that Panthala maharaja took coconut filled with ghee for his son. Ghee was considered because it doesn’t putrefy soon.  It is also believed that the maharaja also took the jewels that Manikanda wore during his stay in Panthala. So this tradition of carrying coconut filled with ghee came into practice by either of these legends.

Below is the list of things that devotees carry in the irumudi