A Ceremony for Mariamman in Mumbai

[Guest guest]

A Goddess for Summer

A ceremony for Mariamman in Mumbai

April 23, 2008

Deepa Krishnan

Desicritics.org

 

See the link for the photos that accompany this nicely-

illustrated story:

http://desicritics.org/2008/04/23/131457.php

 

The fierce April heat brings with it rashes, skin diseases and

the dreaded pox.

 

Before it was eradicated in India, smallpox was one of the

most feared diseases of summer. Chicken pox is still a big

worry for Indian parents. Many communities believe it is

the wrath of the Goddess Mariamman that brings on these

diseases, and that she must be propitiated to ward off the

pox.

 

In Mumbai, a small community from Andhra Pradesh

worships the Goddess Mariamman every summer, seeking

protection from smallpox, chickenpox and all forms of

disease. My housemaid is from Andhra Pradesh, so I went

with her to see the annual Mariamman ceremony. Mum

came along, of course, to find out what it was all about.

 

The first thing we saw (heard) were the drums. Three men

came walking from a little lane, and posed for me [for a

picture].

 

Then the women emerged from several lanes, carrying

offerings for the goddess. Their bowls had a sort of thin

gruel, made from ragi and buttermilk, and flavoured with

chillies. Ragi, or finger millet came to India 4000 years ago

from Ethiopia. It is now a staple part of the local diet.

 

There were neem leaves in the ragi gruel. Neem has

medicinal properties and is used all over the country as a

cure for chickenpox. Several children and young girls wore

skirts of neem, as protection from the pox.

 

A temporary tent had been erected, where everyone

gathered with their offerings. Inside the tent, there was a

little shrine. In the villages of South India, there's a

distinctly different looking Mariamman. But this is

Bombay! There is no consecrated idol of the goddess here,

so a popular representation of Durga was housed inside the

tent, with the customary trident.

 

Mariamman is said to be a proto-Dravidian goddess, not a

part of mainstream Vaishnavism or Saivisam. But as usual,

both Saivaites and Vaishnavites have appropriated her,

because she has such a large following.

 

To get things going, there was a dance. Two male

performers had come from a little village in Andhra

Pradesh. They were not just dancers; they were more like

shamans, intermediaries between the Goddess and the rest.

They said a little prayer and tied anklets on their feet. The

dancing lasted a short while, but it was energetic and

graceful.

 

After the dancing, there was a brief prayer ritual. An elder

from the community performed the arati. The prayers to

Mariamman are " non-agama " i.e. not from the sacred Vedic

texts. Brahmins do not conduct prayers to this Goddess,

except in a couple of very large Mariamman temples in

Tamil Nadu, where the worship has morphed into a fully

agamic tradition.

 

After the prayer, a desi fowl was offered as sacrifice to

please the Goddess and ask her protection. As the sacrifice

happened, the drums and trumpets rose to a crescendo.

Quite a spectacle.

 

[A] pot would be taken around the city after the sacrifice. It

was filled with water, turmeric and neem leaves, and

decorated with turmeric, red sindoor, neem, lemon and

flowers. In Bombay, this vessel goes to various Tamil and

Andhra localities in Dharavi.

 

The ragi gruel was then served to everyone as prasadam. It

was delicious and cool, by the way. There were a couple of

neem leaves in mine, bitter as expected. I ate them, mindful

of all the medicinal properties neem has.