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South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c11: Chapter VI. Village Deities

South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c11

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Chapter VI. Village Deities

I

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Most of the Saivite goddesses described above have been found to be of fearsome appearance, fond of flesh, blood and wine¹ and intimately connected with goblins, spirits, demons and diseases. One of them Tvaritā, it was seen, was the Tāntrik goddess of the Kirātas, and Vindhyavāsinī was evidently another living on the Vindhya Mountain. Āpyā (Durgā) is described in the *Harivamsa* as the goddess of the Sabaras, Pulindas, Barbaras and other wild tribes and as fond of wine and flesh. It will not now be difficult to trace a connexion between these and the village goddesses whose shrines are generally the haunts of malevolent demons and who are often appeased only by the slaughter of fowls, sheep, goats and buffaloes. Almost every village in South India, however insignificant it may be, has a shrine for one or more goddesses of this nature. Generally they are situated outside the village in groves of trees much dreaded by the people and are considered to be the *grāma-dēvatās*, the guardian deities of the village. Often there are no temples properly so called, and where there are structures, they are crude and simple enshrining within them rough unhewn stones representing the *amma* or "mother" sacred to that village. Sometimes there is only a spear or a trident fixed up straight in the ground in place of the goddess-stones. The goddesses bear different names. Some are called after the villages where their primary shrines exist, such as Kollāpuri-amma, Huskūr-amma, Punganūr-)amma, Hosūr-amma, Uchchangi-amma, etc. Other popular names among village deities are the "Seven Kanniyamār," Bhadrakālī, Kāliyamma, Māriyamma, Mutyālamma, Ponnamma, Ellamma,² Ankālamma, Kolumamma, Selliyamma, Pattālamma, Vandi-Kāliyamma, Alagiyānāchchiyamma, Ulagāttāl, Pidāri, Pēchi, Kāttēri, Pōlēramma. Gangamma,¹ Chaudamma, Durgamma, Nūkalamma, Paidamma, Āsiramma, Pādālamma, Gontyālamma, Paradēsamma, Nēralamma, Mallamma, Peddintamma, Sōmalamma, Mātangirāla, Talupulamma, Sellāndiyamma, etc. Some of these names like Bhadrakālī, Kollāpuri-amma (Kollāpura-Mahālakshmī), Kāliyamma or Kalā-Pidāri (Kālī), Gangamma (Gangā), Chaudamma (Chandī ?), Durgamma (Durgā) and Mātangirāla (Mātangī, a recognized synonym of Pārvatī) are clearly mentioned in the Tāntrik works; and others can easily be traced to the same source. Māriyamma, for instance, under the name Mārikā occurs in the Purānas as the goddess presiding over small-pox and other infectious diseases. Kolumamma or Kulumāyamma, Selliyamma (Tsalamma of the Telugus) and Sellāndiyamma are evidently synonymous with Sītalā. Pōlēramma, the village goddess commonly worshipped in the Telugu country, is also supposed to correspond to Sītalā.² Peddintamma is perhaps Jyēshthā.

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¹ In the *Silpasāra*, where the Chaushashti-Yōginis are described, some are stated to feed on dead bodies, some to wander at nights like devils and some to be quarrelsome demons with ugly eyes and erect hair on head. Eighteen well-known shrines of these goddesses in India and Ceylon (Lankā) are enumerated.

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² Nagendra Natha Vasu in his *Mayūrabhanja* speaks of a Greek goddess called Ellā and connects her with Ajaikapād, one of the forms of Rudra, already mentioned.

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¹ In parts of the Guntūr district Gangamma is seen with the crocodile vehicle, e.g., at Pullagunta in the Palnad taluk. Evidently she represents the presiding deity of the river Ganges. In the epic poem Rāmāyana, where the heroine Sītā is made to worship the goddess Gangā (Ganges), she promises to offer, on her safe return from exile, fowls, buffaloes and wine to that goddess.

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² Sītalā or Sītalādēvi is recognized as the goddess presiding over small-pox both in the Canarese and the Telugu districts.

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It is, however, difficult to explain similarly the origin of names like Ankālamma, Pattālamma, etc. Of these again, a few are of a flattering nature such as Mutyālamma, “the pearl-like mother” (fig. 138), Ponnamma or Bangāramma, “the golden mother,” Alagiyānāchchiyamma, “the beautiful queen mother,” etc. Ellamma probably means the goddess of boundaries (Telugu, ella).

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Kālā-Pidāri and Durgā-Paramēśvarī of four arms are names of village goddesses which occur in early Chōla inscriptions. The shrines of these are generally termed tirumurram.³ But sometimes, when they are structures, well endowed and patronized like the other orthodox Hindu temples, they are called *srikōyil*. Four varieties of the goddess Pidāri are known from the records of Rājarāja I of the first quarter of the eleventh century A.D., viz., Punnaitturainangai, “the goddess (living on a river bank), in a grove of *punnai* trees,” Poduvagai-ūr-udaiyāl, “the village deity common to all (classes),” Kuduraivattam-udaiyāl “the deity surrounded by (clay) horses,” and Tiruvāl-udaiyāl, “the deity of the sacred banyan tree.”

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³ Rai Bahadur Venkayya describes Pidāri as a seated goddess with “fire issuing from her whole body to indicate her great wrath. On her head she wears a crown, various ornaments in her locks, on her forehead the mark of Siva, bulky jewels in the large holes of her ears and two flowers behind them. She has four hands holding in them, respectively, a kettle-drum with a snake, a trident, the skull of Brahmā and a goad. Her throne is an altar. Pidāri temples contain also an image of Vighnēśvara and the entrance is guarded by two horrible door-keepers called Mannadiyār. She has eighteen generals. Pidāri is said to be the chastizer of all evil spirits because those who hang or poison themselves, or die any violent death, are turned into malignant demons who would destroy the whole human race if not kept in check by Pidāri ;” S.I.I., Vol. II. Introduction, p. 41, note 1.

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FIG. 138.—Mutyālamma ; Āvani.

II

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Worship of the deities. The worship in the shrines of village goddesses is generally performed by non-Brahmans. In the Chingleput and North Arcot districts are a class of priests known as Ōchchans¹ who are exclusively devoted to service in Pidāri temples. They say that they are Brāhmanas of the Sākta creed and perform the worship according to the *Tāntrik* ritual. Sometimes, but very rarely, Brāhmanas also worship these fearful goddesses installed even within the sacred precincts of orthodox temples.² For example, Vattapirai-amman, “the mother who wears the circular crescent (on her head)” at Tiruvottiyūr near Madras, is a goddess of this kind to whom animal sacrifices are offered on fixed days in the year. On such occasions it is stated that the Sūdra priest takes the place of the usual Brāhmana and an entrance opening directly into the outer courtyard of the temple—kept closed on other days of the year—is now thrown open for the goddess to receive animal sacrifices and worship from her Sūdra or other devotees. After the annual festival is over, the goddess is purified. The buffalo sacrifices, which these village deities are generally fond of, indicate their connexion with Mahishāsuramardini, the slayer of the buffalo-demon and with other similar *Tāntrik* goddesses mentioned above.

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¹ Thurston’s “Castes and Tribes,” Vol. V, p. 419f.

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² In many important Siva temples of the South, I have observed processional images of village goddesses kept in a separate room and worshipped. It is gathered from the priests of the temples that before commencing any important festivals in the Siva temple, these images are carried in procession and the village deities are first appeased, the expense being met from the Siva temple.

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Peculiar ceremonies. Some of the ceremonies peculiar to the temples of the village goddesses, besides animal sacrifices, are (1) fire-walking, (2) swinging on the *sidi* with a hook passed through the skin during what is otherwise known as the *chakra-pūjā*, (3) lashing oneself with a whip, (4) piercing a metallic wire right through the tongue or through the sides of the mouth, (5) slashing at the breast and forehead with swords until the blood spurts out, (6) thrusting a spear through the abdomen¹ and (7) carrying on head the karagam, lamps of ghee, or earthen pots with blazing fire in them. Annual festivals called jātras are generally held in honour of the village deities. But when infectious diseases among men and cattle prevail, special worship is arranged for, to appease the deities by sacrificing animals, offering heaps of cooked rice mixed with blood, or by carrying the karagam. This last is celebrated by dressing the selected person who has taken a vow to perform the ceremony, in the yellow cloths of a woman, putting on him the ornaments of women and making him carry on his head a pot or pots profusely decorated with flowers and margosa leaves and supposed to contain in them the spirit of the particular goddess for whose propitiation the ceremony is gone through. A class of Tamil-speaking gardeners, called Tigalas in Mysore and allied to the Pallis or Vanniyans of other districts, are particularly devoted to the five Pāndavas of the Mahābhārata story, and to their common wife, Draupadī. The illustration from the courtyard of the Draupadī temple at Kumbakōnam (fig. 139) shows a group, in which the figure of Bhadrakālī with eight arms and a flaming crown, crushing the head of a giant under her left foot, is distinctly seen. The original goddess of the temple is, however, Draupadī whose metallic figure with that of Arjuna, one of her five husbands, is preserved in the central shrine. The two huge heads seen in the illustration, next to Bhadrakālī, are those of the hero, Aravan—said to be a son of Arjuna by a Nāga princess. He is believed to have been offered as a sacrifice on the great battle-field of Kurukshētra, especially with the object of securing success to the Pāndava brothers. Substantial big temples are built for Draupadī and the Pāndavas under the name Dharmarāja in the country round Kolar and Bangalore. The karagam-carrying ceremony is performed every year and attracts immense crowds of excited sightseers. The central figure of the ceremony is the priest who, as he madly trips along with the sacred weight over his head, like a high tiara decorated with flowers, is closely followed by a select number of men—the supposed attendant deities—with drawn swords in their hands. This scene very strongly reminds one of the goddess Sūlinī, who has been described above to be one of the Tāntrik goddesses,

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¹ Some of these inhuman practices seem to be but remnants of the older human sacrifices which were once quite a common feature of Sakti worship. Epigraphical evidence has been adduced to show that voluntary human sacrifices were offered even to the male deity Vīrabhadra (above, p. 161, footnote 2).

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DRAUPADĪ temples and karagam.

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FIG. 139.—Group of images in the Draupadi-amman temple; Kumbakōṇam.

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followed by four unmarried girls with swords and shields in their hands or of a form of the goddess Durgā surrounded by maids with drawn swords. The Saptamātṛkās of the Tāntras are also counted among village deities and are, perhaps, the same as "the Seven Kanniyamār (unmarried girls)" or the "Seven Sisters." They are frequently appeased by special worship when any unforeseen and sudden illness takes hold of a man. The local fortune-teller, often a woman of the Korava caste, being consulted, says that the patient is possessed by the "sisters" while walking alone in untimely hours of the day near tanks, gardens or groves. At once the goddesses are propitiated. A temporary shrine is constructed. Seven small stones are planted in a row, near a tank, almost touching the edge of the waters, and a small shed erected over them with leaves and flowers. Coconuts, plantains, fried rice and pulse are then offered to the stones and not unfrequently also a fowl. Even Brāhmanas worship the "Seven Sisters" in this way, but when a fowl is to be sacrificed they get a Sūdra to do it. The worship is enjoined to be performed in wet cloth after bathing.

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The practice of honouring and even worshipping women who committed *sati* appears to have been very old in Southern India. Kannagi, the heroine of the Tamil poem *Silappadigāram*, died on hearing of the unjust death inflicted upon her husband by the Pāndya king of Madura. She was thenceforth worshipped in shrines built for her throughout Southern India and Ceylon. In the latter island she is known as Pattinī and is very popular. The mother of Rājarāja I is stated to have committed *sati* and in consequence of this act, evidently, an image of her was set up in the temple at Tanjore. Pērantālamma, a woman who committed *sati*, is equally reputed in the Telugu districts. Kanyakā-Paramēsvarī who is the tutelar deity of the Vaisya (Kōmati) caste is also connected with the story of a woman entering the sacred fire. The fire-walking ceremony peculiar to the temples of village goddesses may have some connexion with *sati*.

III

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The village gods are not so many in number as the goddesses. Aiyanār, Hariharaputra or Mahā-Sāstā is supposed to be, as his name implies, a son of Siva and Vishnu.¹ When the celestial nectar was obtained by the *dēvas* and *asuras* after churning the ocean (see p. 139f, above) they quarrelled about the distribution of it. Vishnu assumed the form of a beautiful young woman, called Mōhinī, and by her attractions enticed the asuras and made them agree to depute her to distribute the precious liquid equally to all. She of course deceived them and gave the nectar to the gods alone. Siva saw Mōhinī at the time and was enamoured of her. He wedded her, and the result of their union was Hariharaputra. This deity is largely worshipped in Malabar and parts of Tinnevelly and Tanjore. In these districts he is not assigned the subordinate position of a village deity as in others. In the latter, however, he is one of the guardian deities of the village and, as such, is attended by bhūtas and pisāchas. He has long curly hair, a crown and ear-rings of gold-leaves. In his two arms he holds the bow and the arrow. He is dark of colour and is seated on a throne below a banyan tree. In the illustration given (fig. 140) the position of the hands of what is believed to be a figure of Aiyanār does not appear to suit the weapons, bow and arrow, which he is stated to hold.¹ In the figure from Valuvūr he is seen riding on an elephant in the very same posture, holding in his right hand what looks like a whip or an elephant goad (fig. 141). In front of his temple are placed figures of horses, elephants and other animals, made of wood or of painted brick and chunam, which are supposed to serve him as vehicles in his nightly perambulations. A third figure from Rāmēsvaram (fig. 142) represents him as riding on a horse. Pūranai and Pudgalai are stated to be his two wives, and Madurai-Vīran and Pāvadairāyan, his generals. Madurai-Vīran is a historical person whose adventures are noticed in the South Arcot District Gazetteer.² Kuttisāttan, Sāttan, Karuppan, Mundan and Gulikan are the names of some of the malignant demons that attend upon Aiyanār.

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¹ For a fuller description of Aiyanār and his position among village deities, see S.I.I., Vol. II, Introduction, p. 40, note.

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¹ We have a similar figure of stone within the Natarāja temple at Chidambaram, which people call Ardhajāma-Alagar.

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² Vol. I, p. 101.

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KARUPPAN- NASĀMI. Karuppannasāmi is a similar god worshipped by the Kallars of Madura. Chains, clubs, spears and bill-hooks are his symbols; and these are presented by devotees at his shrines as votive offerings. They are generally found either hung on the trees or stuck into the ground. A similar god much dreaded by the people is Munīsvara whose name is quite popular. He is represented by a block of stone, a bush or sometimes a tree. Men and women called Muniyappa, Munisami, Muniyamma, etc., are so named because they were evidently born as the result of propitiating Munīsvara. It D.319

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FIG. 140.—Aiyanār (metal) ; Tiruppalātturai.

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FIG. 141.—Aiyanār (metal) ; Valuvūr.

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FIG. 142.--Aiyanār (metal); Rāmēsvaram.

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might be noted that Buddha is called Muni in the lexicon *Amarakośa* and that the forms of Siva known as Dakṣiṇāmūrti, Bhikṣātana, Vīrabhadra, etc., are often those of wandering mendicants.

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Heroes (*virulu*) who have given up their lives under romantic circumstances, in the cause of their native village or province, are also honoured as village deities and festivals are celebrated to propitiate them. Madurai-Vīran mentioned above was one of this kind. In the Palnād taluk of the Guntūr district, temples for heroes are quite a common feature.

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Devil-dances in connexion with the annual festivals of village deities are common in Malabar and South Canara. The figures of the devils as represented by the Tuluva devil-dancers are described in detail with illustrative plates by Dr. Burnell in his article entitled "Devil Worship of the Tuluvas," in *Indian Antiquary*, Volumes XXIII and XXIV.

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