When she recovered, people worshipped her as the goddess of smallpox.
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. Still another story about the origin of Maariamman is that she was the wife of Thiruvalluvar, the Tamil poet, who was an outcast. Sheetla Devi has a similar background story and plays a similar role in protecting villages. In Northern India, Sheetla Devi was worshipped in a similar way, predominantly by the Rajput/Kshatriya community. In time Mariyamman become popular in the Vanniyar villages. Vanniyars would offer her puja and barley, which pleased her. But during the night, when Pandavas was asleep, she would travel to the Villages of Vanniyar (Kshatriya) in the form of Maha Kali. Draupadi, despite being Maha kali, lived like a normal woman, suppressing her supernatural powers. This was known to no one but Sri Krishna. One story about the origin of Maariyamman is found in the Mahabharata, where Draupadi, the wife of Pandavas, is said to be an incarnation of Maha Kali.
In this self-realization a bonding with the goddess occurs, which is the underlining reason for the worship. Through this worship each individual achieves self-realization and awareness of others through samsara and moksha. Some put themselves through a special tribulation of having one of the sacred weapons, dagger, trident, or spear, inserted through their cheeks or tongues. Larger men and women carry pots of charcoal fire. Young men and women, carrying similar pots, are followed by drummers and dance more wildly. Women and children may carry a pot on their heads decorated with the goddess’s favourite leaves, of the margosa tree. Many in the crowd have fasted, shaved their heads, and wear bright yellow clothes which are sacred to the goddess. A hurried walk and dance carry hundreds of thousands of worshippers along the road to the temple. The main worship of the goddess occurs on the road a mile or two from the temple. Some continue to use an old village custom of worship by offering chickens and goats to the deity, though the animals are no longer sacrificed but sold after being offered. Her worship mainly focuses on bringing rains and curing diseases like cholera, smallpox, and chicken pox.Īt 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, which involves a ten-day festival organized by temple authorities during the second week in April. Throughout the Tamil Nadu and Deccan region, the grand festival known as 'Aadi Thiruvizha' is devoted to Maariamman. Her festivals are held during the late summer/early autumn season of 'Aadi'. It is said that when Kali went to southern India as Mariamman, Bhairava followed her as Madurai Veeran. The goddess Mariamman is considered by many to be the incarnation of the Goddess Kali. Māri is closely associated with the Hindu goddesses Parvati and Durga as well as with her northern counterpart Shitala devi. She is the main mother goddess predominant in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu and Thirucherai. Māri (/mɒrı/, /maari/, Tamil: மாரி), also known as Mariamman (/mɒrı əˈmʌn/ Tamil: மாரியம்மன்) and Mariaai, both meaning 'Mother Mari', spelt also Maariamma (Tamil: மாரியம்மா), or simply Amman or Aatha (Tamil: அம்மன், 'mother') is a Hindu goddess of rain especially popular in Tamil Nadu and surrounding regions.
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