The Legend of Goddess Maariamman

The period mid – July to mid – August  is the month of ‘Aadi’ or ‘Aashada’  according to Bharatiya Solar calendar. This is when the Sun starts to move towards the southern hemisphere. This month heralds the festive season which follows thereafter. In this month, the worship of the Mother Goddess is done in a grand manner especially in the southern part of Bharat.

It is significant to note that while in other religious faiths the supreme God is always masculine, in the Bharatiya civilization, the Mother Goddess or Parashakti is venerated more than the pantheon of male Gods are! It is but natural, since the energy in all living beings is considered to be ‘Shakti’, the divine feminine energy. The source of this energy in all the living beings is attributed to Parashakti, the Supreme Goddess.

Parashakti is venerated by people of all strata of the society in their own way. Therefore, diverse and numerous forms of the Goddess considered to be the manifestations of Parashakti and varied methods of her worship can be found all over Bharat.  One such form of  Parashakti is that of ‘Maariamman’.  

Maariamman, ‘Maariyaathaa’, ‘Maari Aayi’, or ‘Mahamaayi’ as she is called, is worshipped with is great fervour in this month of Aadi especially in Tamil Nadu, though this Goddess is worshipped in Andhra, Karnataka and Maharashtra as well.

‘Maari’ in the Tamil language means rain – the compassion of Maariamman is compared to the cooling rain after the hot summer months. Amman/Aathaa and Aayi mean mother in Tamil and Marathi respectively. So, She is the ‘mother who showers compassion like the cool rain’. In Andhra and Karnataka, She is called Yellamma or Renuka Yellamma.

We are all familiar with the story of Yoga Maaya Devi who was born in Gokula and exchanged with Sri Krishna as soon as He was born. Later when Kamsa tries to kill Her, Yoga Maya  announces to Kamsa that his killer is alive and disappears after showing him Her fiery form. There is a belief that it is this Mahaa Maaya who incarnated as Maariamman. For this reason, they say, Maariamman was called Mahaa Maayi which is now pronounced as Mahamaayi.

The narratives on the origin of Maariamman are centred around Renuka Devi, the wife of Rishi Jamadagni. I am presenting one of the narratives here.

In the ancient days, one of the well-known Rishis,  Rishi Jamadagni,  lived with his wife Renuka and their sons in their Ashrama in the dense forests. Renuka is believed to have been an Amsha (embodiment) of Parashakti, the supreme Mother Goddess. Once Rishi Jamadagni was visited by the powerful king Kartavirya Arjuna along with his army. He and his army were well- fed and taken care off, thanks to the divine wish-fulfilling cow Kamadhenu which Rishi Jamadagni possessed. Kartavirya’s eyes fell on Kamadhenu and he wanted her in his possession. So, after going back to his palace, he sent his minister with exchange offers for Kamadhenu. When the Rishi was stubborn on not parting with Kamadhenu, the sons of Kartavirya Arjuna along with their army went to the Ashram when the Rishi was alone, in deep meditation and hacked him to death.

When Renuka came back to the Ashram, she was numbed with shock to see her husband lying dead in a pool of blood. Not being able to bear the loss, she lit a huge fire and jumped into it to kill herself. Nature seemed to mourn with her and there was a sudden downpour of torrential rain. The fire got extinguished by the rain, but Renuka had already sustained many burns. The effect of water on the burns caused lot of blisters on her body and most of her garments were also burnt.

Understanding that destiny had other plans for her, Renuka stepped out of the fire pit.  Finding a large neem tree nearby, she used its leaves and branches to cover herself. Some kind-hearted people from a nearby village, seeing her partially burnt condition offered her cooling foods like tender coconut, buttermilk to reduce the heat in her body. They offered her a mixture of rice flour and jaggery to satiate her hunger.  Some of the old women applied turmeric as a medicine for the burns.

Suddenly Lord Shiva appeared there with the radiance of a thousand suns.  The people who had gathered looked at him in awe.

Addressing Renuka, Lord Shiva said, “O Renuka! Do not grieve. Jamadagni has reached Devaloka. You are an incarnation of Parashakti. I have come to remind you of your responsibility on this earth. You shall stay here  for the welfare of the people. You will be a saviour of the people suffering from diseases due to heat which cause blisters and rashes (small pox, chicken pox, measles etc). The neem leaves which you have used shall have the power to dispel these diseases and people will offer it to you with devotion. The food given by these people to you now shall be the ‘Prasad’ of your shrine henceforth. And just as the rain showered coolness on you when you entered the fire, your grace shall be like the cooling rain for the people afflicted by these diseases. You shall be known as “Maari” (rain).

It is said that Renuka accepted the words of Lord Shiva and stayed back as Mariamman in this world from then on.

There are innumerable Maariamman/ Maari Aatha temples in almost every village and city in Tamil Nadu. The famous temples are at Samayapuram, Punnainallur, Salem, Tiruverkadu, Bannari (near erode), Vandiyur(near Madurai) to name a few. Similarly, there are many Yellamma temples in Andhra and Karnataka and Mari Aayi Devi temples in Maharashtra.

Maariamman temples are present in the countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Thailand, Srilanka, South Africa and Indonesia to name a few. People from Bharat who migrated as workers to various countries under the British Raj took Maariamman along to wherever they went and settled. The temples built by them as early as the beginning of the nineteenth century are still maintained and worship continues.

Fridays and Sundays are considered very special for Her and there is a great deal of celebration where ragi gruel (known as Koozh) with buttermilk sprinkled with neem leaves,  coconut water , Paanagam (Jaggery water) and sweet Pongal are offered to Her and distributed as Prasad. People also light lamps with ghee in diyas made of rice flour, jaggery and coconut water called ‘Maavilakku’. Carrying fire pots placed on neem leaves in their bare hands and walking on fire pits are also offerings to Maariamman and many a time it is to fulfil a vow as a thanksgiving for the grace She showers.

Maariamman is worshipped for every desire from enabling a good monsoon to dispelling the viral diseases of chicken pox , small pox and measles, to blessing the earth with fertility to happiness and prosperity to all.  

Let us also pray to Her for the welfare of all beings in the world!

Note : Inputs for this narrative are from the public domain including an article by Dr. Sudha Seshayyan in the magazine Vedanta Kesari in May 2020.