Bhagavathy Of Nanganallur & For Ms Sana &Mr Mohan

[Guest guest]

Dear Sana,

Please find below your request for Bhagavathy Of Nanganallur.There is

also a Photograph of Devi in the file for Photo just for you.

I hope this e-mail is of your satisfactory

Pranam,

Babitha

 

The Origin of Goddess Mari Amman

 

Goddess Mari Amman is revered and worshipped widely among Tamil

villagers across Sri Lanka and South India, where she is regarded as

having the power to bestow or remove life-threatening fevers like

smallpox and chicken pox. Despite Mari Amman's great popularity to

this day, the origins of her cult remain obscure. The oral tradition

concerning her origin, however, may be summarized as follows:

In ancient India there once lived a rishi named Jamadhakni together

with his sahadharmini (nowadays called `wife') Renuka Devi and their

four sons. They had built an ashram on the bank of the river Ganges,

the holy river descended from the heavens in Hindu mythology, where

they lived an austere but happy life spent in prayer, worship and

meditation.

Jamadhakni would customarily wake up from sleep as early as 4 a.m.

and ask Renuka Devi to bring a vessel of water from the Ganges for

his early morning pujas. Rishis like Jamadhakni would perform pujas

and meditation between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., which is known as Brahma

Muhurtham, i.e. before sunrise. It is said that, after the sun rises,

the sun god takes half the punyam or blessings accrued from one's

pujas. So the ideal time for pujas is before sunrise.

Renuka Devi used to go down to the Ganges empty handed, without any

vessel, and due to her tapa balam or benefits obtained through

austerities, she would wade through the waters of the Ganges, collect

riverbed mud, mould an earthen pot on the spot, and use it to bring

water for her husband's pujas. This miracle was a daily occurrence.

One day as she entered the Ganges, however, she happened to see in

the water the reflection of a Gandharva flying nearly over her head.

Her mind seized upon the beauty of that Gandharva and inwardly she

retained his image. Her mind began to waver, as she reflected that

there were also handsome young men in the world, whereas her husband

and his fellow rishis were old men having long matted hair and gray

beards.

In the process, Renuka Devi's inward chastity collapsed and, on

account of this, she found that she was unable to mould a clay vessel

out of the riverbed mud. Without wasting any further time she went

back to her husband and expressed her inability to mould the earthen

vessel.

Jamadhakni prayed to God Shiva, and came to know the reason for her

being unable to mould the vessel. Accepting the command of Lord

Shiva, he decided to punish her severely— by beheading her.

He ordered their sons—first, second and third—to behead their mother

Renuka Devi. But all refused, pleading that there was no precedent.

However, their fourth son, Parasurama, agreed to carry out his

father's severe order. At once, Parasurama, the avatar of Maha

Vishnu, beheaded his mother with his axe weapon.

On beheading his mother, Parasurama turned to his father and said

that he had carried out the order. Jamadhakni was pleased and offered

to grant his son Parasurama a boon befitting the heavy task assigned

to him.

On being assured that the boon would surely be granted, Parasurama

requested that his mother be back to life. Jamadhakni, though

indignant at the outset, was compelled to grant the boon to maintain

his word.

Jamadhakni said that the water for that day's puja had not yet been

fetched. However, a remnant of the previous day's puja water kept in

a kabandalam (vessel with handle and spout) was found and sprinkled

on Renuka Devi's body, attaching the severed head.

On sprinkling water on the head and torso, Renuka Devi came back to

life. However Jamadhakni told her that she no longer had any place in

the ashram as she was an incarnation of goddess Parvati, henceforth

called Mari Amma by order of Lord Shiva.

Renuka Devi, or rather Mari Amma, was starting to leave the ashram

when from a distance an army of brigands approached Jamadhakni asking

for drinking water. The rishi was now in deep meditation (dhyana) and

could not hear the tumult. The warlord of the brigands turned wild

and told his followers to cut off the head of the rishi, which they

did. Since Jamadhakni died in a sacred place surrounded by ashrams,

his body could not be kept for long and, accordingly, a funeral pyre

was built and his body was cremated.

Renuka Devi, on seeing her husband's body being burnt, returned and

leaped upon the funeral pyre, as a last mark of respect for her rishi

husband. Indra from heaven ordered Varuna, the rain god, to drench

the fire with sudden heavy rain so that the fire would be

extinquished. But in the meantime, Renuka Devi had been severely

burned and her dress was also burnt partly.

Then, badly burned but still alive, Renuka Devi managed to walk to a

nearby village where, on seeing her familiar face, the villagers made

her lay on a long plantain leaf coated with castor oil and applied

turmeric powder and neem leaves. One woman touched Renuka Devi and,

finding her feverish, ordered that she should be given tender coconut

water and butter milk. Then Renuka Devi went to the next village

inhabited by washer men who, upon seeing Renuka Devi's burnt sari,

offered her a pure white sari and a red sari that is normally worn by

Mari Amma.

On descending from Mount Kailasa, Lord Shiva appeared before Renuka

Devi and pronounced her as none other than Uma Devi, Parameswari or

Jagadeeswari. Ever since then, Renuka Devi has been called Mari Amman

and other names according to local traditions. Because of her

association with burning fever, Goddess Mari Amman is respected as

omnipotent in every village, guarding people from severe fevers like

small pox and chicken pox.

 

, " sanajohn2000 "

<sanajohn2000> wrote:

> Dear Babitha,

>

> Please provide me with info on Samayapuram Mariamman, Bhagavathy of

> Nanganallur and also your experiences, if possible.

>

> Thanks!

> Regards

> Sana