The CAUVERY CONNECTION!

[Guest guest]

WOW! when i read about all the legends and myths surrounding the holy

river Cauvery in this forum, i was literally "flooded" with memories

from my childhood days......

 

My father hails from "ERODE", a town situated on the banks of the

river Cauvery and which was then part of Coimbatore District,

tamilnau, india...In the ancestral home of my paternal grandparents

(lovingly addressed as erode amma and erode appa by us grandchildren)

my four siblings and i spent most of our summers....

 

what does the word 'ERODE' mean? ERA ODU literally means "wet

skulls" - according to one legend, Daksha who had given his daughter

dakhashayini (aka sati) in marriage to Lord Shiva, conducted a maha

yagna... Daksha insulted lord shiva by not inviting him to the great

yagna... but, dakshayani decided to attend the yagna against the

wishes of her husband, shiva,,,when dakshayani arrived at her

father's house, no body welcomed her and she got infuriated and threw

herself in the Yagakundam and burnt to ashes. On hearing this, Lord

Siva got highly enraged, proceeded to the sacrificial spot and threw

every one present including Brahma. The skulls and Bones were thrown

in River Cauvery and remained wet always. Hence the name "Eara Odu"

(wet skull) - Erode.

 

Grandma Erode amma was a great story teller and it was from her we

kids learned a lot about the great indian epics Ramayana, mahabharata

besides besides being exposed to classic sangam tamil literature -

ilango adigal's silapathikaram . tHe great classic 'silapathikaram'

takes place in a city called 'puhar' where the great river cauvery

merged with the bellowing sea, and hence was known as Puhar ... , but

due to the exquisite beauty of the port town, it came to be called

Poompuhar. Another name of Poompuhar was Kaveripoompattinam.

 

one thing i vividly recall was we all used to celebrate a major

festival called "adi-peruuku" in the summer months of july-august on

the banks of the river cauvery... we all used to accompany our

grandma , aunts to the cauvery river and offer prayers to the river

goddess and ask the river goddess to bless the entire area so there

will be a bountiful harvest... it also turned out to be a

great 'picnic' spot- we children used to feast there and enjoyed the

various dishes prepared by our grandma and aunts... i remember how we

used to place a coconut, plantain, betal leaf, areca nut etc on a

banana leaf and place it gently in the CAUVERY as an 'offering' to

the river goddess... ...

 

but this year there has been a 'drought' all over india and i was sad

to discover that the dispute has intensified between THe states of

KARNATAKA and TAMILNADU over the sharing of the waters of

Cauvery.... let us pray that this matter be resolved amicably between

the two states... but as beloved sesh says - only one state can

benefit - there is not enough to share- so it hs to be either

karnataka or tamilnadu! tough, is not it?

 

on my next trip to india, i would certainly like to visit 'erode' and

see for myself how this town has changed over the years ... my cousin

who is married to an industrialist in that town says " oh! it is not

the erode you remember! we are just like any other major city in

tamilnadu " ... alas! how industrialization and modernisation can

change the 'contours' of a place...

 

well, erode amma and erode appa are no more but their legacy

remains... erode amma was a great 'ambaal' devotee ( mother devotee)

and a disciple of kanchi paramacharya ... i guess from her i have

inherited the love for everything 'tamil' - tamil literature,

karnatic music, tamil culture ....

 

just some recollections...

 

love