Mariamman
Mariamman | |
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Goddess of Weather and Fertility Punnainallur Mariamman, Tiruverkadu Devi Karumariamman Temple | |
Festivals | Navaratri, Ādi Thiruviḻa |
Mariamman, often abbreviated to Amman, is a
Origin
Mariamman's worship originated in the traditions of
The word Mari (pronunciation: /mɒri/) has the Sangam Tamil origin meaning "Rain", and the Dravidian root term Amman means "Mother". She was worshipped by the ancient Tamils as the bringer of rain and thus also the bringer of prosperity, since the abundance of their crops was dependent largely upon adequate rainfall. The cult of the mother goddess is treated as an indication of a society which venerated femininity. The temples of the Sangam days, mainly of Madurai, seem to have had priestesses to the deity, which also appear predominantly as goddesses.[11] In Sangam literature, there is an elaborate description of the rites performed by the Kuravar priestesses in the shrine Palamutircholai.[12]
Iconography
Mariamman is usually pictured as a beautiful young woman with a red-hued face, wearing a red dress. Sometimes she is portrayed with many arms—representing her many powers—but in most representations she has only two or four.
Mariamman is generally portrayed in the sitting or standing position, often holding a
Legends
The origin of the goddess Mariamman in terms of a consistent and coherent legend has not been standardised, but several myths of the mother goddess exist in several regional traditions that are spread orally throughout South India.
According to a regional Hindu legend, there was once a beautiful woman named Nagavalli, wife to a rishi named Piruhu. When the rishi was away, the Trimurti, the deities of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, visited her, seeking to decide for themselves if she was truly as beautiful and virtuous as she was supposed to be. Nagavalli, not recognising them, and resenting their intrusion, turned them into children with her powers. The deities were infuriated and cursed her, causing her face to become disfigured with smallpox. When Piruhu returned, he drove her away, informing her that she would be born on earth, causing her affliction to human beings as well.[13]
According to the Vanniyar community, an agrarian class, Draupadi, the common wife of the Pandavas, is said to be an incarnation of the goddess Shakti. Draupadi, despite being Shakti, lived like a normal woman, suppressing her supernatural powers. While they were in exile, when the Pandavas were asleep at night, she would travel to the villages of Vanniyar in the form of a fierce looking Goddess. Vanniyars would offer her prayers and barley, which pleased her. In time, she would be called Mariamman (the mother of rain and curing diseases), and became popular in the Vanniyar villages.[14]
According to the narrative of the higher varnas, there was once a pariah boy who impersonated a Brahmin suitor in order to marry a Brahmin girl. This lie is discovered by the girl when she discerns the jargon and non-vegetarian habits of her in-laws. In order to ritually purify herself from the pollution of being married to a low-born pariah, the girl self-immolates. This Brahmin girl is deified and named as Mariamman, and becomes the goddess of the pariahs.[13]
In northern India, Shitala is worshipped in a similar way, predominantly by the Rajput/Kshatriya community. Shitala has a legend and plays a similar role in protecting villages from diseases.
Roles
Goddess of medicine
Mariamman cures all so-called "heat-based"
Fertility goddess
Devotees also pray to Mariamman for familial welfare such as fertility, healthy progeny or a good spouse. The most favoured offering is "
Some festivals in honour of the goddess Mariamman involve night-time processions of devotees carrying oil lamps.[why?] Mariamman is the family deity for many in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. It is a custom initially to worship the family deity on occasions such as weddings. The worship of a 'family deity' (kuladevata), considered most important in any Hindu festival, continues down the generations, providing a clue to the family's origin, since the family deities are usually located within the vicinity of the village to which the family originally belonged.
Worship
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The worshipping methods are often accompanied by various kinds of folk dancing.[15] Offerings such as pongal and koozh that are cooked using earthen pots are also made during the festive season. Rituals such as fire walking and mouth or nose piercing are also practised.
At the
Mulaikottu
Mulaikottu is a village festival celebrated in southern Tamil Nadu, particularly in villages of Madurai, Sivagangai, Dindugul, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi and Thirunelveli districts. By doing so they believe that they can get her blessing and sufficient rain for better cultivation. This festival is generally celebrated in between Any Tamil month of panguni to Purattasi. The festival lasts for 11 days. (Sunday of first week to Wednesday of second week).
On the auspicious beginning of the village festival, a village meeting will be convened to sort out the best suitable date for the celebration of Mulaikottu. Before fixing any date, the pradhana and secretary of the village gather some information from the villagers regarding any marriage or anyone suffering from chicken pox etc. If anyone is affected by chicken pox, any sudden death occurred or someone's marriage is taking place, under these circumstances the date of mulaikottu will be either postponed or cancelled according to the public opinion at the meeting. The celebration begins with collection of nine different types of grain seeds from every house, called thandal in Tamil. The Thandal will held in Sunday of Valarpirai. The following Tuesday is the second day of thandal called Pari parapputhal. Next Tuesday, the main function is held on the day called mulaikottu. On the next day of thandal, the temple committee distribute the grains to every house for setting up of pari.
The pari is a clay pot with a wide mouth and narrow base with a hole in the bottom. This utensil is specially made for this purpose and sold at the market. The villagers visit the market and purchase number of paris as they wanted to set up in their home.
The first step to set them up is to clean paris and their home the second day of thandal. People used to collect goat dung and some hay. The hay is used to block the hole of the pari. A layer of goat dung is spread over the hay and watered to make the dung wet. This is the procedure of setting up of pari.
As a next step to this, the received nine type of grains from the temple committee, is smoothly spread over the goat dung on the pari. Following this, a pooja will be arranged for praying the goddess to make the pari a successful one. Every house may have more than two paries. These paries taken into a dark and isolated room in their house. For the next seven days they have to grow the seedlings into a plant. Usage of loudspeaker and crackers are completely banned during this period. During evening, all villagers assemble in front of the Mariamman temple and sing folk songs known as mari pattu and dance folk dances such as mulaikottu ( similar to kummi), Amman oyil. It is followed everyday from thandal Sunday (First day) to next Sunday (eighth day). The ninth day called thangal, means camping. On this day the temple is closed and folk poojas and dances are prohibited. The Amman karagam is made in village water body and the person who fasts in those 10 days is called Ammadi (The person who depicted as Amman). The amandi takes the karagam and gave to temple. All paris are brought into the Amman temple from the houses on the tenth day of thandal. The paris remain in the Amman temple for one night and on the next day (the last day, eleventh day, Wednesday), and after a pooja, the paries will be issued back to their respective member. The Ammadi again takes karagam and the mulaiparis are also taken from the temple. Finally, the amman Karagam and mulaiparis are submerged into the village pond. It is also celebrated in Madurai amman temple on the Tamil month of Aadi.
In the Tamil Diaspora
Her worship has been brought over across the Tamil Diaspora in places such as the Caribbean (See: Caribbean Shaktism), South Africa, Mauritius, Singapore, Vietnam, and Fiji where festivities and temples are often done and built in her name. Her trance-worship has been brought via the Girmityas to around the world, where similar traditions to those in Mainland Tamil Nadu are practiced. Often times, Mariamman is syncretized with Kali.
Temples
Most temples to Mariamman are simple village
Some temples have attained sufficient popularity for
Punainallur, near
Salem Kottai Sri Periya Mariamman temple which is located in the heart of the city, the Aadi festival celebrated for 22 days.
The Erode Mariamman temple festival is a grand one in Tamil Nadu. The worship of three Mariamman goddesses named Small, Medium and Large Mariamman (residing at three separate localities within the city) is combined in a festival every April. It features the Thiruvizha, along with all the other devotions to deities, and ends at the Kaveri river with the purificatory immersion of the Kambam (the effigy of Mariamman's husband Shiva) in the flowing waters of the river.
The Karur Mariamman temple festival, which is celebrated at the end of May each year, is another notable festival held in honour of the goddess in Tamil Nadu.
Other important temples of Mariamman in
In 2012, the singer
Madurai is home to the Theppakulam sri Mariamman Temple, a noted focus of devotion, primarily to the goddess but also to the Maruthuvachi (= doctor/midwife). Periyachi Amman (or Pechi Amman), who was deified for her skill and heroism. The temple possesses a large theppakulam. Here the Panguni festival is the main event of the religious calendar. The devotees of The goddess Mariamman observe the "poo choridhal" flower festival, and in the month of Aadi many women honour her with fasting and prayer.[clarification needed]
Another famous Mariamman temple is situated in the state of
There is also a famous and highly regarded Mariamman temple in Urwa, a residential area of the city of Mangalore, where through the power of the goddess many miracles have been reported to occur. The temple is known familiarly as Urwa Marigudi.
Outside India
- Sri Muthumariamman Temple, Matale in Sri Lanka.
- Arulmigou Shri Madhur Kannanour Mariamman Thirukkovil, Port-Louis in Mauritius.
- Mariamman Temple, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
- Mariamman Temple, Bangkokin Thailand.
- Mariamman Temple, Pretoria in South Africa.
- Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Sri Mariamman Temple, Medan, Indonesia.
- Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, Penang, Malaysia.
- Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore.
- Sri Muthu Mariamman Temple, Negombo, Sri Lanka.
- Mariamman Temple, Pretoria in South Africa.
- Mari Mata Mandir or Shri Mariamman Temple, Madrasi Para neighborhood of Karachi, in Pakistan.
There are many Mariamman temples outside India, in
There are also many Mariamman temple in every state of
There is another very popular temple dedicated to Mariamman in Matale, Sri Lanka [19]
Gallery
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The Nanalthidal Mariamman, Kattucherry near Porayar, Tamil Nadu, India, Jan '13
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Mariamman temple, Kattucherry village, Tamil Nadu, Jan '13
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Mariamman temple vimana, Bokkapuram village, Tamil Nadu, Mar '21
See also
- Karuppuswamy
- Draupadi Amman
- Karumariamman
- Samayapuram Mariamman
- Isakki
- Kateri Amman
- Madurai Veeran
- Maisamma
- Mari (goddess)
- Pidari
- Caribbean Shaktism
Citations
- ISBN 9781783083626– via Google Books.
- ISBN 9781638408048– via Google Books.
- ^ "Mariamman – the Village Goddess who travelled". Storytrails. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-4579-9010-6.
- ^ Congress, Indian History (1980). Proceedings. Indian History Congress. p. 100.
- ^ "ஆயி உமையானவளே ஆதிசிவன் தேவியரே" (Oh Mother Uma, Consort of Siva!) - Mariamman Thalattu, Goddess Mari Prayer.
- ^ "The truthful Kali who guarded the homesteads sat with her, The Kali sat together with Durga continuously with her". Mariamman Lullaby
- ^ Viraraghavacharya, T. K. T. (1997). History of Tirupati: The Thiruvengadam Temple. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. p. 486.
- ISBN 978-1-108-48027-7.
- ISBN 978-1-134-93690-8.
- ^ Manickam, Valliappa Subramaniam (1968). A glimpse of Tamilology. Academy of Tamil Scholars of Tamil Nadu. p. 75.
- ISBN 8126012218.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59682-117-0.
- ISBN 978-81-952253-4-7.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ M. K. V. Narayan, Exploring the Hindu Mind: Cultural Reflection and Symbolism, Readworthy, 2009, p. 93
- ^ Younger, Paul. "Journal of the American Academy of Religion." A Temple Festival of Māriyamman (1980): 493-513. ATLA Religion Database. Web. 28 September 2014.
- ^ "Amma Mariamma" – via Amazon.
- ^ "Temples : Sri Maha Mari Amman Temple, Germany". Dinamalar. 28 December 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
- ^ "Sri Muthumariamman Temple Matale". ceylonpages.lk. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
General references
- Kolenda, Pauline. "Pox and the Terror of Childlessness: Images and Ideas of the Smallpox Goddess in a North Indian Village" in P. Kolenda, Caste, Cult and Hierarchy: Essays on the Culture of India. New Delhi: Folklore Institute, 1983. pp. 198–221.
- Rigopoulos, Antonio. The life and teachings of Sai Baba of Shirdi. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. ISBN 0-7914-1268-7. pp. 78, 80, 160, 224, 226, 250.
External links
Media related to Mariamman at Wikimedia Commons