Goddess of the Week : Sri Periachi Amman

[Guest guest]

Sri Periachi Amman is considered as the protector of children and

mothers. Newly born babies are placed at Her feet to receive

blessings for a healthy and long life. This is usually done after a

month when the "theettu" is completely removed.

 

This practice can be traced to a story involving one of the Pandya

Kings, Vallalarajan. He was not a kin King and the people under his

rule suffered a lot. His wife suffered severe pain at the time of her

delivery. As the pain went on unabate, the king sent his soldiers to

find a midwife. They were unable to do so. Therefore the King went

looking for one. Periachi, the goddess of the asuras, appeared before

him and volunteerd to be the mid-wife.

 

She successfully helped to deliver the Kings's baby. However, the

king refused to pay her dues. In his arrogance he felt that a subject

should not ask for a fee from a king. Periachi threw the King down to

her feet an disemboweled his wife and wore her intestine as a

garland. For this reason pregnant ladies make a promise to bring

their babies to seek Her blessings for a safe delivery. As periachi

is considered the mid-wife, women who do not have babies also pray to

her to be blessed with a child

 

 

Om ParaShaktiye Namaha

[Guest guest]

Yes Nora,

 

She is said to be an elderly lady with grey hair and huge sized!.But

i realise something here in Singapore we worship her more than in

India.And an offering of lemon garland and vepillai maalai is great

for her. But i wonder why she only wears red or black saree?

 

Regards,

Madhava

[Guest guest]

Pranam. I had actually heard another story. What happened was that, one day, the

King(I had forgotten his name), his wife, the queen and their baby son visited

the temple. By the time they had finished their prayers, it was pretty late.

Both the King and the Queen were almost home when they realised that they had

left the baby at the temple. So, they rushed back and woke the priest. All of

them went to the temple and they heard the baby giggling in the garbagraha. The

priest told the royal couple not to worry, that the Goddess would take care.

Besides, you are not supposed to open the door once the night puja has been

done. But, the Queen was adamant that the door should be opened. So, the King

ordered the door to be opened. The moment the door was opened, Ambaal assumed

this furious form and disembowelled the King and killed the Queen.

Well, that is the story that I had heard from my parents. It is because of the

Brahmin priest's sin that Brahmins are don't do Periachiamman's pujas.

I also believe that mothers who have given birth do a Periachi puja at home.

They light a lamp and make a 'padaiyal' of rice, chicken curry,boiled egg,

'keerai' and 'karuvadu' or dried fish. Only women are allowed in the room, no

men. Apparently after the 'padaiyal', an old woman of the family takes three

balls of the mixed 'padaiyall' and ges to a junction where three roads meet. She

then throws up the balls of rice in the air and says that this is an offering

for Periachi amman.

With Love

Shankaree

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Skankaree, I really want to give you a big hug. Thank You for this

wonderful version. Sri Periachi Amman is popular in our region, but

not much written about her. I have search the net and look for books

but found nothing. You are a darling !

 

Om ParaShaktiye Namaha

[Guest guest]

Thank you Madhava

 

It is popular because Periachi Amman is basically a South Indian

Deity. She is popular in the South East Asia Region because most of

the Indians especially the early settlers are from South India. The

same as with Sri Mariamman. The Oldest Devi Temple in Singapore is

Sri Mariamman in South Bridge Road. And its almost a must to have Sri

Periachi Amman in all Devi temple. I don't remember visiting Devi

temple without Sri Periachi Amman.

 

"I wonder why she only wears red or black saree?"

 

I personally believe Sri Periachi Amman represents the Crone aspect

of Devi. Last week we discuss about Usha. It is believe that Usha is

the Maiden aspect of Kali and Periachi is the Crone version of the

Trinity.

 

Crone is the final aspect of the Goddess. She is often depicted as a

midwife, a sage or a grandmother. I had a discussion with z zripe and

we both somehow agreed that perhaps Sri Periachi Amman is another

Form of dhoomavati ( The mahavidyas ). We present Red Sari or most

often Black Sari to Sri Periachi Amman during special pooja. The

Crone is a in a way a triple goddess herself. Since she have lived

through the passage of time : Maiden, Motherhood and grandmother and

having endured all these experiences makes her the wise woman that

she is and enables her to guide us through the dark.

 

Her role as Midwife is both symbolic as well as actual. Traditionally

its is always the older women in the society who facilitate the birth

of children and this is because they themselves had gone through. The

role of a midwife itself is sacred thus always attributes to somebody

who is elderly and have had the experience.

 

Symbolically as a midwife, she guides us from one phase of life to

another. Its like the rebirth process and the Crone is the aspect of

the Goddess that guides us through this time. These transition can

be very difficult for most people, it is also a time of darkness.

Many time we have to rely on our intuition because we are we are

unfamiliar with the things around us. But its through the Crone that

we receive guidance and it is she who facilitates our birth and

guides us into the light.

 

The Crone is always the last seen because she represents death. We

most often associate death with fear. It is this fear of death and

the unknown. But death is not the end. From Death comes rebirth or

the end of rebirth. The Crone can either stop the cycle of rebirth or

the promises of Maidenhood ( a new life )

We often discuss Devi aspect as in a form of Warrior Goddess. The

Crone too is a warrior. Where Devi in her form as Warrior is the

blood of battle , Devi in the Crone aspect is the strategy. She have

the ability to see what cannot be seen. She is the General. The Crone

Goddess does not don the face of the warrior to shed blood, but she

will provide the courage to walk through the dark, the ability to

seek and destroy the enemy, whether the enemy is actual, or internal.

 

In many respects, the Crone Goddess is the aspect of the Goddess that

is most called upon to conquer inner demons. This is due to the fact

that as the keeper of mysteries, the Crone is also th Keeper of the

Underworld. With her help, we are able to travel into the Underworld

and fight whatver demons haunt us. Likewise, once we are ready to be

reborn, she again acts as the midwife and guides us once again into

the light.

 

 

Om ParaShaktiye Namaha

[Guest guest]

This is an article from a lady called Nagamman, a tribal midwife from

the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

 

We have this ritual for coping with psychological problems such as

too much fear or anxiety or bad dreams during early pregnancy. We put

three stones at the back of the house, and apply kumkum and turmeric

on them. We make pongal and offer it there; we also sacrifice a cock.

Then the pregnant woman walks around that spot three times. She is

given a black sari to wear that had earlier been placed on that spot.

This helps to send away the bad spirits and ensures that the fetus

grows nicely. She must wear this sari every alternate day till it

tears or is completely worn out. It is to be washed every day. Her

husband must also attend this ceremony.

 

I do this rite many times every month, in seven villages. A white

male goat can also be sacrificed. Sacred ash is brought from the next

house or a nearby temple, and used in this ceremony.

 

This rite was done on me as well since I was unable to conceive for a

long time. It is done for those wanting to become pregnant and for

pregnancy-related problems. It invokes the goddess Kanyamma who is

worshipped by the rural people. She is believed to be more accepting

and beautiful during the Tamil month of Aadi, July 15-August 15.

At our place there is a sacred grove of neem trees. Anybody can come

and place stones and do puja here. It is just not possible to count

all the goddesses who live on this spot. The neem tree itself is

adeviam, a goddess, for us. It is believed that a demon will come and

cause problems during pregnancy—for example, the spirit of a

woman

who has died in childbirth, called the aavi, can enter a pregnant

woman and devour the fetus. The pregnant woman will feel cold and

have convulsions—the spirit is breaking the fetus. We use neem

leaves

and chant mantras to send the demon away. A munishwaran or manusha is

another spirit that can cause problems.

 

This spirit is found in wells and has got matted hair. These spirits

mostly go from the first or seventh child and are usually seeking

revenge. Before entering the house where a birth is to take place, I

wash my legs and hands and pour water over my head to remove the

spirits that may have been attracted to me. If threatening spirits

are thought to be present, an exorcist is called who waves neem

leaves over the woman in labor and drives them away. In the hut or

the stone house, the woman's family ties a long thin palm leaf over

the door, and places a knife beside the door. When the midwife comes,

she takes the knife and cuts the leaf into two. While cutting, she

prays to the household god or goddess.

 

Sometimes there may be many gods and goddesses: Kayana, Selvi, Ganga,

Kariya. If the cut is clean, the birth will be easy; if not, there

will be many complications.

After birth, we do not throw away the placenta. The mother later

buries it near the house. We put neem leaves underneath, and then

cover it with earth and put a stone on top, and then more neem

leaves. The water from the first bath of the mother and baby should

flow on the ground where the placenta is buried. On the ninth day,

when the woman is given a bath, we clean up the place where the

placenta is buried. On the stone we put kumkum and turmeric. We place

cooked rice on top of a banana leaf and put it in a winnowing basket,

along with a sweet made of rice powder and jaggery. A copper diya

(earthen lamp) is placed and lit on the other side. The baby is put

on the ground near the diya.

 

This ritual is called kuchra ma (garbage mother) and is only done for

the first child. The mother prostrates herself on the ground before

the stone and then the baby is handed to her.

 

After that nobody comes near that place again.

 

Goddess Kanyamman sounds more like Sri Periachi Amman to me. Sri

Periachi Amman is being worshipped too in the month of Aadi.