[Fegasderty]

Yes, Ayyanar is the same as Ayyappan.
If you go to Sabarimalai, Karuppusamy stands as a guard for the pathinettam padi.
There are different forms of karuppusamy, like Sangilli Karuppan who is also worshipped in the Caribbean. He used to be a warlord/robin hood. Basically a lot of them are martyrs.