Village deities of South India


Village deities are the patron deities or grama devata of a village. They are found in almost all villages in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu-speaking areas. They are known as Kaval deivam or guardian spirits in Tamil and kuladevata in Kannada and Telugu. Most demand non-Vedic worship., c.a. 1911

Origins

Most scholars see the village deities of South India as continuations of religious traditions followed in the subcontinent before the arrival of Indo-Aryans. Sree Padma connects many symbols present in Indus Valley Civilization art to common religious symbols for village deities in Telugu regions.

Types

There are three main types of deity propitiated in a village. Any of these deities can be considered a kuladevata.
The fertility goddess. This goddess is believed to arise from the natural world itself and to be intrinsically linked to the ground of the village. She is a representation of the village itself, rather than simply a guardian figure. She often has the additional responsibility of overseeing rain, since, in the areas of South India east of the Western Ghats, the monsoon rains are the primary source of water for agriculture. She is the main protector of the village, especially against common diseases like smallpox or plague. Other goddesses preside over specific household objects, or act as guardians of cattle or children. Most of these deities are unique to their village and have their own origin stories, and many are worshipped only by members of a particular community. Mariamman is one of the most popular of this class of deity, worshipped throughout South India. She provides fertility and, in many places, protection against smallpox and other deadly diseases. Other popular goddesses include Pochamma in Telugu regions and Yellamma in northern Karnataka. Another common theme is the seven sisters, called saptamatrikas in Brahminical traditions. This collection of goddesses does not have a specific function, but may be called upon if a disease is affecting the family. In the area around Tirumala, it is said that these deities can be seen as young girls wandering around at noon, dusk or night. Village goddesses can have different personalities. Some are kindly, and will shower blessings on those who worship them. Others are vengeful and angry, and will unleash terror on the village unless they are propitiated.
The guardian deity. This god protects the village from harms like war or famine or other evils. Unlike the fertility goddess, this deity is worshipped throughout a wide region and has much less variety. Deities popular throughout South India include Muneeswara and Veerappa, but some regions, especially Tamil Nadu, have a strong tradition of worshipping guardian heroes like Karuppusamy and Aiyanar. These are the most common kuladevatas, especially for those in dominant communities. For example: Veerappa is the kuladevata for many Kuruba families in Karnataka.
Elevated spirit. This group includes anyone who died and whose spirit was later worshipped and propitiated. Formerly those men who died a heroic death were worshipped at special hero stones, known as natukal or viragal. Similar to hero stones, sati stones honour women who sacrificed their life, especially for chastity and purity. The early Tamil poem Tolkappiyam gives a six-stage guide to the erection of such a stone: beginning with choosing a suitable stone until the institution of formal worship. In time these nadukals became Ayyanar shrines. Examples of deified heroes include Madurai Veeran and Kaathavarayan. Oftentimes, these heroes are found as attendants to Ayyanar or a village goddess, especially in Tamil Nadu. The Paanchamman temples in north Tamil Nadu were built to worship widows who underwent Sati. Often, the deities are spirits who suffered injustice in their lives or deaths and must be propitiated to prevent their spirit from affecting the village. Several couples who have lost their lives due to caste are worshipped as deities in several villages. Kannagi from the Silappadikaram, whose husband was unjustly killed by the Pandyan king, is another widely-worshipped deity. The Maachani Amman temple at Pollachi was built to worship a young girl who was killed by a Kongu king for unknowingly eating a mango from his garden. Oftentimes female spirits are merged into the main fertility goddess, or are venerated as one of her attendants.
Some few deities are less-venerated characters in the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. For example, there are many temples dedicated to Draupadi and Dharmaraja in northern Tamil Nadu. Temples dedicated to Gandhari, Kunti and Aravan are found in Tamil Nadu.

Representation

The place and way in which a deity is represented is symbolic of their role in society. In Tamil Nadu, the guardian god is given a space along the village boundaries to protect them from evil, but the fertility goddess is normally given the center of attention in the middle of the village. The shrines themselves vary by deity and region. For Tamils, Aiyanar is represented in an open space to better fulfill his duty. However there the goddess is given her own temple similar in form, and sometimes size, to a Brahminical temple. In other regions, however, the goddess may be given a shrine at the edge of the village, although it is common to find the shrine next to a tree or a snake-hole. In Telugu regions, the deity sometimes has no permenant shrine, but a temporary pandal. Some goddesses wish to be in the open space to feel the same hardships as their devotees.
The deities themselves are often represented as aniconic, either as a shapeless stone or tree or snake-hole. In Tamil Nadu, the guardian god is often given form as a fierce warrior, holding an aruval or other weapon, with attendants surrounding him. In Telugu and Kannada regions, the goddess is often given anthropomorphic form as a terracotta statue only during a temple festival, and is then returned to her aniconic shape. In many villages in Tamil Nadu, a village god is represented by planting spears or trishulas in the ground to represent his martial prowess. The brother of a village goddess in Telugu areas, called Pothuraju, is represented with a stick carved at the top. In the village of Kogilu near Bengaluru, the goddesses were represented by items such as a lamp or a stone pillar. In many areas of South Karnataka, the village goddess is symbolized by an aarti, a lamp made of rice flour shaped like a cone and adorned with kumkuma in the shape of a face.

Worship

Worship of the deities is done in the local language, and mainly involves animal sacrifice. Oftentimes someone, usually from one of the Dalit communities, is possessed by the goddess, and devotees can ask her questions and sometimes criticize her.
During the recent decade or so the Jathara of Sammakka Saralamma the village deities in the Telangana has become very popular among the locals, which is now in fact the largest tribal festival in the world. Many Telugus and the neighbouring Marathis worship the village deities of Sammakka and Saralamma.
During Tamil month of chitirai, AYYALAMAN festival is celebrated in melachinthamani, geethapuram and other 5villages. During that time on 2nd Tuesday of the month kapu kattu will takes place and from 3rd Wednesday goddess will come on different vahana and on 4th Tuesday of the month, the main event ther festival will be conducted which will be continuously moving to all the seven village from Tuesday to friday.on that time people will cut the head of goat and let the blood before ther this goat is sacrificed for santhana karupusami who gave place for goddess, when she came from Kerala. And event like therta kudam, flower pallaku, kuthu will be conducted then next Tuesday manjal ner will be celebrated. Then goddess will go back to her temple situated on outskirts of the village. This festival of Ayyalaman will continue for a month nearly 30 days.
During the Tamil month of Masi and Panguni, Kulumayee Amman Festival is celebrated in Puthur and Sholnganallur villages in Tiruchi District of Tamil Nadu. During that time Marulali of the respective village suck the blood of the Goats with the blessings of Ondi Karuppu.
During the Tamil Months of Karthikai ; Thai ; Masi ; Panguni ; Aadi and Vaigasi, festivals will be conducted in these temples. Generally, a mass convention assembly of large number of related family member gathering is organized during the spring season for a period of 2 to 3 days. For the annual mass convention festival, the tradition is that the commencement of the festival will be with that of a hoisting of the flag and tying "Kappu." After this time, villagers neither can go out of the village to different village or come into the village from a different village.
People who always had greater belief in God agreed with the decisions that was taken by the committee members. More importantly, it is the belief of the village people that the Karuppu samy God is being disguised in the form of the man who predicts the future. This belief system about Karuppu samy is called the "Arul vaaku" in several parts of Tamil Nadu. The social issues will be discussed through the temple fore-tellers whom the people usually consider as the voice of the Karuppa sami deity. When Lord Karuppa sami addresses the people in different villages through Kodangi, different issues and dimensions on social, cultural and psychological aspects of people and society are reviewed for possible solutions.
Worship of Goddess ANKAMMA: Ankamma is also known as Angamma, Ankalamma, Angalamma, Ankali, Angali, Ankala Parameswari, Angala Parameswari. She is worshipped with these names in Andhra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu. Ankali and Kali are one and the same goddess. Ankamma is considered to be the mother of Trimurtis. The most important part of Ankamma Kolupu is that a midnight puja was performed with the help of ballads by making a colorful Rangoli with wheat flour, turmaric powder, kumkum, black charcoal powder, etc. At the end of the puja, the devotees sacrifice a goat. The devara kolupu / veerla kolupu is normally performed on some special occasions by individuals or by community as a whole. During the worship singers recite historical stories about warrior ancestors.

Relationship with Brahminical Hinduism

The Vedic and non-Vedic people assimilated from each other. Even though there are diversified characteristics between the Vedic and the folk tradition, various communities inducted these deities in their spectrum and created various sthalapuranas which emphasized the relation between these gods and goddesses from differing traditions. For example, a male deity called Kuttandavar is worshipped in many parts of the Tamil country, especially in South Arcot district. The image consists of a head like a big mask with a rubicund face and lion's teeth projecting downwards outside the mouth from the angles of the upper jaw. According to legend the creation of Kuttandavar, the god of Indra, is for the crime of murdering a Vedic priest, became incarnated in the form of Kuttandavar, and a curse was laid upon him that his body leaving only the head. These types of stories need to be carefully examined, because they are regarded as the kuladevatas by the oppressed and downtrodden people. In these circumstances they also altered the structure of these deities into either elated or cursed form.
The popular deities have evolved significantly over time. For example, Mariamman, another traditional folk deity, is highly influenced by the Vedic rituals. She is usually garlanded with skulls. But due to Vedic influence, the skull garland has been replaced by the lemon garland and her poor outlook has been altered into a pleasant one. Sometimes these processes of assimilation lead to the degradation of the deities. When the Brahmins stressed the holiness of the Brahminical deities, at the same time they denied the holiness of the deities of the folk tradition. They described the gods and goddesses of folk tradition either as subservient to Brahminical deities or they venerated these deities as capable of curing most potent contagious diseases.
The process of inclusivism can also be seen in popular temples dedicated to the deities of folk religion. For example, the increase in the number of devotees to Samayapuram, Punnainallur, Vazhangaiman Mariamman temples in Tamil Nadu boosted the financial position. It attracts Brahmins to switch over their interest to Mariamman on account of the financial benefits. They not only dominate during the time of worship, but also on various other occasions. They have introduced the custom of Kumbhabhishekam. In addition to this, they have made Mariamman as a Suddhadevatas. With regard to the temples of folk tradition Vinayakar, Murugan, Iyyappan and others, Vedic deities are replaced by the deities of folk tradition such as Aiyanar, Madurai Veeran and Karuppannasamy. Even the people of the folk tradition have begun to follow some customs and habits of higher castes in order to raise their social status and that is eroding some of India's religious diversity.