Mariamman

Maariamman, Maariaatha
Rain

Goddess Mariamman
Devanagari मरी आई
Tamil script மாரியம்மன்
Kannada script ಮಾರಿಯಮ್ಮ
Tamil மாரியம்மன்
Weapon Triśūlam
Mount Lion

Māri (/mɒrı/, /maari/, Tamil: மாரி), also known as Mariamman ( /mɒrı əˈmʌn/ Tamil: மாரியம்மன்) and Mariaai (Marathi: मरी आई), both meaning "Mother Mari", spelt also Maariamma (Tamil: மாரியம்மா), or simply Amman or Aatha (Tamil: அம்மன், "mother") is the South Indian Hindu goddess of rain. She is the main South Indian mother goddess, predominant in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu, Thirucherai Māri is closely associated with the Hindu goddesses Parvati[1] and Durga[2] as well as with her North Indian counterpart Shitaladevi. Goddess Mariamman is considered by many to be the South Indian Incarnation of Goodess Kali. It is said that when Kali went to Southern India as Mariamman, Bhairava followed her as Madurai Veeran. Festivities for her happen during the late summer, early autumn season of "Aadi". Throughout the Tamil Nadu and deccan region, grand festival known as "Aadi Thiruvizha" are taken for Maariamman. Her worship mainly focuses on bringing rains and curing diseases like cholera, smallpox, and chicken pox.

She is worshipped in accordance to the local agamas as "Pidari" or the "Grama Devata" usually by non-Brahmin priests or in some cases of big temples like Samayapuram Maariamman temple, also by Brahmin priests. According to shaktha agamas, she is depicted in sitting posture and might be flanked some times by Ganesha and Subramaniya or Ganesha and Naaga on her sides. She is usually taken in procession in a decorated chariot.

Origin

Mariyamman in Tirisool, 10th century, Chola period, Tamil Nadu, India

Mariamman is an Tamil folk goddess, whose worship probably originated in pre-vedic India. She is the main Tamil mother goddess, predominant in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu. In the post-vedic period, Māri was associated to Hindu goddesses like Parvati,[3] Kali and Durga[4] as well as with her North Indian counterpart Shitaladevi and Eastern Indian counterpart Manasa.

The word Mari (pronunciation: /maari/) has a sangam Tamil origin meaning "Rain" and the Tamil word Amman means "Mother". She was believed and worshipped by the ancient Tamils to bring rain and hence prosperity to them as their vegetation was mainly dependent upon rain. 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 a goddess.[5] In the Sangam literature, there is an elaborate description of the rites performed by the Kurava priestess in the shrine Palamutircholai.[6]

Worship

The worshiping methods are non-vedic and often accompanied by various kinds of folk dancing.[7] 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 temple of Samayapuram, which lies six miles to the north of Tirucirapalli, the Hindu system of worship is still seen today for the worship of Mariyamman. worship for Mariyamman is a ten-day festival, organized by temple authorities during the second week in April. Some continue to use an old village customs of worship by offering chickens and goats to the deity, but the animals are no longer sacrificed but sold after being offered. But the main worshipping of the goddess occurs on the road a mile or two from the temple. A hurried walk and dance carries hundreds of thousands of worshippers along the road to the temple. Countless people in the crowd have fasted, shaved their heads, and wear bright yellow clothes, which are sacred to the goddess. Many women and children carry a pot on their heads decorated with the goddess’s favourite leaves of the margosa tree. Young men and women carry similar pots but are followed by drummers and dance more wildly. Larger men and women carry pots of charcoal fire. Some put themselves through a special tribulation of having one of the sacred weapons, dagger, trident, or a spear, inserted through their cheeks or tongues.[8] Through this worship each individual realizes themselves and others through samsara and moksha. In this self-realization he or she is bonded with the goddess, which is the underlining reason of the worship.

Myths

Erode Mariamman Ther Thiruvilla

One story about the origin of Maariamman is that she was the wife of Thiruvalluvar, the Tamil poet, who was an outcast. She caught smallpox and begged from house to house for food, fanning herself with leaves of the neem or margosa tree to keep the flies off her sores. She recovered and people worshipped her as the goddess of smallpox. To keep smallpox away, neem leaves are hung above the main entryways of South Indian homes. This temple houses both Thiruvalluvar and his wife Vaasuki Ammaiyar.. This is in sharp contrast to the life of Thiruvalluvar wherein he advocated love for all. Hence this story cannot be taken to be credible.

The Tamil word 'Muthu' means pearl and hence in the ancient usage of the language 'Muthu Maari' was a celebrating, poetic way of saying that the rain falls in droplets which were related to pearls given by the nature god for property. Maariamman was also called 'Muthu Maariamman' which meant the goddess who gives prosperous rain. This was wrongly connected to the pearl-like small form of the boils that occur during chickenpox.

Another story involves the beautiful and virtuous Nagavali, wife of Piruhu , one of the nine Rishis. One day the Rishi was away and the Trimurti came to see if her famed beauty and virtue was true. Nagavali did not know them and, resenting their intrusion, turned them into little children. The gods were offended and cursed her, so her beauty faded and her face became marked like smallpox. The Rishi returned, found her disfigured, and drove her away, declaring she would be born a demon in the next world and cause the spread of a disease which would make people like her. She was called Mari, meaning 'changed.' Both stories are reported by Whitehead and he remarks that in Mysore he was told that Mari meant sakti, power.

Local goddesses such as Mariamman who were believed to protect villages and their lands and represent the different castes of their worshippers have always been an important part of the religious landscape of South India. However, we can note periods of special significance. The eclecticism of the Vijayanagar period (1336–1565) encouraged folk religion, which became more important and influenced the more literate forms of religion. In the last century and a half there has been a rebirth of Tamil self-consciousness (see Devotion to Murukan). In the middle of the present century deities such as Mariamman have become linked to the "great tradition" as the strata of society which worship the goddess has become integrated into the larger social order.

Iconography

Māri 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.

Māri is generally portrayed in the sitting or standing position, often holding a trident (trisula) in one hand and a bowl (kapala) in the other. One of her hands may display a mudra, usually the abhaya mudra, to ward off fear. She may be represented with two demeanours—one displaying her pleasant nature, and the other her terrifying aspect, with fangs and a wild mane of hair.

Goddess of medicine

Mariamman cures all so-called "heat-based" diseases like pox and rashes. During the summer months in South India (March to June), people walk miles carrying pots of water mixed with turmeric and neem leaves to ward off illnesses like the measles and chicken pox. In this way, goddess Māri is very similar to North Indian goddess Shitaladevi.

Fertility goddess

Devotees also pray to Mariamman for familial welfare such as fertility, healthy progeny or a good spouse. The most favoured offering is "pongal", a mix of rice and green gram, cooked mostly in the temple complex, or shrine itself, in terracotta pots using firewood.

Some festivals in honour of goddess Māri involve processions carrying lights. In the night, the devotees carry oil lamps in procession. Mariamman is the family deity for many families in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu.It is usually a family custom to initially worship the family deity for any family occasion such as weddings. Many families even have a custom of inviting the family deity first for all occasions in the family. The family deity (Kula-theivam) worship is considered more important in any Hindu festival. The family deity worship runs many generations and it also gives a clue to the origin of the family, because the family deities are usually located within the vicinity of the village where the family belongs.

Temples

Most temples to Mariamman are simple village shrines, where both male and female priests perform sacred rituals. In many rural shrines, the goddess is represented by a granite stone with a sharp tip, like a spear head. This stone is often adorned with garlands made of limes and with red flowers. These shrines often have an anthill that could be the resting place of a cobra. Milk and eggs are offered to propitiate the snake.

Some temples have also attained enough popularity that Brahmins officiate at them. For example, the Samayapuram temple near the shore of river Cauvery in the northern outskirts of Trichy, maintains a rich agamic tradition and all rituals are performed by Gurukkal of Brahmins.

Punainallur, near Thanjavur (Tanjore), is the location of another famous Māri temple. Legend says that Mariamman appeared to the King Venkoji Maharaja Chatrapati (1676–1688) of Tanjore in his dreams and told him she was in a forest of Punna trees three miles distant from Tanjore. The King rushed to the spot and recovered an idol from the jungle. Under the king's orders a temple was constructed, the idol installed and the place was called Punnainallur. Hence the deity of this temple is known as Punnainallur Mariamman. Mud replicas of different parts of the human body are placed in the temple as offerings by devotees pleading for cure. It is said that the daughter of Tulaja Raja (1729–35) of Tanjore, who lost her eyesight due to illness, regained it after worshipping at this temple. Shri Sadasiva Brahmendra is said to have made the Moola Murthy of Goddess Maariamman from the mud from the ant hill where snakes had resided.

Salem Kottai Sri Periya Mariamman temple which is located in the heart of the city, the Aadi festival celebrated for 22 days.

Erode Mariamman temple festival is grand one in Tamil Nadu. Three mariamman goddess named small, mid and big mariamman in three corners of city combines to a festival at every April month of season. It has the thiruvilla and all devotions to God which ends in Cauvery river to stack away the kambam (Mariamman's husband) into the flowing river water.

Karur Mariamman temple festival which falls in the end of may month every year is also a well noticed grand festival in TamiNadu.

Other important temples of Mariamman in Tamil Nadu are in the towns of Veerapandi, Theni, Anbil (near Trichy), Narthamalai, Thiruverkadu, Salem, Virudhunagar and Sivakasi, Vellore. In Chennai (Madras), a famous Mariamman temple is the Putthu Mariamman—the Putthu (ant hill) is across the road from the temple and is located on the Velachery Main Road.

Singer Harini rendered in 2012 a song on Samayapuram Mariamman deity which became part of the album Om Nava Sakthi Jaya Jaya Sakthi. The song narrates the power of Sakthi as Samayapuram Amman which has the Peruvalai River as Punya Theertham as believed by people in that area.[9]

Madurai Theppakulam sri Mariamman Temple. It is so religious and the temple contains main goddes as mariamman and another god as petchiamman the temple have a large theppakulam. On panguni festival is famous festival in this temple. For god mariamman the devotees conduct the "poo choridhal" flowers festival and the month of Aadi lot of women's takes fasting and pray to goddess mariamman.

Another famous Mariamman temple is situated in the state of Karnataka, in the town of Kaup, seven kilometres from the famous temple town of Udipi.

Sri Mariamman temple in Medan, Indonesia

Outside India

There are many Mariamman temples outside of India, in Mauritius, Sri Lanka (Mari Mata Temple Rattan Tallow Akbar Road Saddar Karachi Pakistan, in Karachi 5 Mari Mata Temples, Rattan Tallow Temple Soyam Parghat Temple. In Karachi five temples of Mari Mata). Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Fiji, Fiji Maha Shakti Mata Temple Votualevu Nadi, Guyana, Vietnam, Germany[10] and South Africa, the product of efforts of the Tamil diaspora. Some notable temples include the Sri Mariamman temple in Singapore, Sri Mariamman temple in Bangkok, a Mariamman temple in Pretoria, South Africa, as well as one in Sri Mariamman Temple, Medan, Sri Mariamman Temple Karachi Pakistan, (Marathi Peoples Calling=Mari Aayi)(Shri Mari Mata Temple Rattan Tallow Akbar Road Saddar Karachi Pakistan.) Indonesia.

There are also many Mariamman temple in every state of Malaysia. Some notable temples include the Queen Street Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Penang in Georgetown, Lorong Kulit Sri Muthu Mariamman Temple in Georgetown, Sri Rudra Verra Muthu Mahamariamman Temple in Air Itam, Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam in Arau, Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam in Alor Setar, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Sungai Petani, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Ipoh, Sri Nagamuthu Mariamman Temple in Taiping, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Gopeng, Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Klang, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Chukai, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Port Dickson, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Kuantan, Raja Mariamman Temple in Johor Bahru, Sri Maha Muthu Mariamman Temple in Tumpat, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Kuching and Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Sibu.

Hindu tradition

In Hindu tradition, Mariamman is the sister of Lord Vishnu (Sriranganathar) and called Mahamaya.

The Samayapuram Mariamman is worshipped on the first day of the Tamil month of Vaikasi by the Iyengar/Srivaishnava Brahmins of Srirangam. They claim that she is the sister of Lord Renganath (a form of Vishnu) of Srirangam. This is the second most prominent temple in Tamil Nadu, following Palani, on the basis of income.

Another version of the traditions suggests she is the mother of Parasurama, Renukadevi who is appeased for rains. She is also known as Sri Chowdeshwari Devi in most of the parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In Mysore region she is worshipped as both Chowdeshwari Devi and as well as Mariamman. There are many instances where Mariamman has appeared to people in form an old woman wearing red sari with green bangles and three mangalsutras. She is also regarded as the Gramdevata of certain villages, thus reducing the incidence of contagious disease in these villages. Another version depicts her as Pattalamma, goddesses of truthfulness and punctuality. She is said to punish any villager failing to practice these virtues.

In reference to Sanskrit stotras, it is suggested Mariamman is not sister of Lord Visnu rather feminine aspect of Lord. The Lord incarnates in this form during Kali yuga, when knowledge is almost void or ignorance at peak. Even few refer or map to other female goddess like Renuka devi, none of them have been proved or validated. The Mariamman represents core aspects of Lord in form of curative aspect to signify direction and awakening of knowledge. She is referred as MahaLakshmi, Mahasaraswati and MahaKali. Varamahalakshi is dedicated to Mariamman. It also represents finite aspect of infinite qualities.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "ஆயி உமையானவளே ஆதிசிவன் தேவியரே" (Oh Mother Uma, Consort of Siva!) - Mariamman Thalattu, Goddess Mari Prayer.
  2. ↑ "The truthful Kali who guarded the homesteads sat with her, The Kali sat together with Durga continuously with her" _Mariamman Lullaby
  3. ↑ "ஆயி உமையானவளே ஆதிசிவன் தேவியரே" (Oh Mother Uma, Consort of Siva!) - Mariamman Thalattu, Goddess Mari Prayer.
  4. ↑ "The truthful Kali who guarded the homesteads sat with her, The Kali sat together with Durga continuously with her" _Mariamman Lullaby
  5. ↑ Manickam, Valliappa Subramaniam (1968). A glimpse of Tamilology. Academy of Tamil Scholars of Tamil Nadu. p. 75.
  6. ↑ Lal, Mohan (2006). The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (Volume Five (Sasay To Zorgot), Volume 5. Sahitya Akademi. p. 4396. ISBN 8126012218.
  7. ↑ M.K.V.Narayan, Exploring the Hindu Mind: Cultural Reflection and Symbolism, Readworthy, 2009, pp 93
  8. ↑ Younger, Paul. "Journal of the American Academy of Religion." A Temple Festival of Māriyamman (1980): 493-513. ATLA Religion Database. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.
  9. ↑ Samayapuram Mariamman Song by Harini
  10. ↑ "Temples : Sri Maha Mari Amman Temple, Germany". Dinamalar. 2007-12-28. Retrieved 2011-10-29.

References

Further reading

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