After going to Mutthumariamman, we stopped in at the Angalamman Koyil which had a notice indicating that nonbu pujas could happen there, too (but it was quiet when we went – well, quiet if you don’t take into account the eardrum bursting cracker bombs being burst just outside by all the boys who are otherwise so sweet inside the temple, being egged on by the priest). In the evening, the temple did its usual amavasya unjal utsavam with a group of 2+2 nadaswaram and tavil players absolutely rocking it on the percussion. There was hardly anyone watching but us, and they were having their fun. Nadaswaram players beating talam, tavil players going with uncommon intensity. Padayal to Pechaiamman was to be offered, but hadn’t by nearly 9 when we had to leave (to get back to website work).
But the real surprise and prize was seeing the Draupadi Amman Koyil which had, interestingly enough, also transformed its alankara mandapam. At first we thought this was another facet of this “cult” of worship, but the figure in the mandapam was Mariamman, we were told – so this was in honour of the Mariamman figure left at the back at the temple, not really part of Draupadi Amman’s worship traditions. In the main sannadhi, Amman, Arjuna and Perumal were out, “alankaram done by me” said the priest proudly, because the usual alankara men had not shown up. A different priest was officiating at the makeshift Mariamman shrine though. He told us the story.
Bhringi Maharishi was an ardent devotee of Siva, but he refused to worship Parvati, believing that Siva alone was worthy of his devotion. Whenever he visited Kailasa, he would circumambulate Siva, deliberately excluding Parvati. To demonstrate that Siva and Shakti are inseparable, Siva and Parvati assumed the form of Ardhanarishvara, with Parvati occupying the left half of Siva's body. However, Bhringi refused to accept this and transformed himself into a bee, boring his way between the two halves so that he could circumambulate Siva alone. Angered by his refusal to acknowledge her, Parvati withdrew the feminine principle (or the blood, as the priest told us) from his body, leaving him as a mere skeleton. Unable to stand on his two legs, Bhringi appealed to Siva, who took pity on him and granted him a third leg for support. Thus Bhringi came to be depicted as a three-legged sage. In response to this episode, Parvati left Kailasa and approached Sage Gautama, who instructed her to observe the Kedara Gowri Vratham for 21 days. Pleased with her devotion and austerities, Siva granted Parvati the left half of his body, manifesting as Ardhanarishvara and affirming the inseparability of Siva and Shakti.
So then why Mariamman? Again, the story first:
Mariamman is Renuka Devi, the wife of Sage Jamadagni and mother of Parashurama. Renuka was known for her extraordinary chastity and devotion to her husband. Every day she would go to the river and fetch water in an unbaked clay pot, which she could fashion through the power of her chastity. One day, while at the river, she saw a celestial being (in some versions, a Gandharva) and momentarily admired his beauty. Her concentration was disturbed, and she lost the power that enabled her to make the unbaked pot.
When Jamadagni saw Renuka returning without a pot, he became furious and ordered his sons to behead their mother. The elder sons refused, but Parashurama obeyed his father's command and severed Renuka's head. Pleased with his obedience, Jamadagni offered Parashurama a boon. Parashurama asked that his mother and brothers be restored to life.
However, in the process of bringing them back to life, Renuka's head became attached to the body of a woman from a lower social community (in some versions, a woman who had tried to protect her). The other woman's head was attached to Renuka's body. The woman with Renuka's head came to be worshipped as Mariamman or Yellamma in different regional traditions. This story is often used to explain Mariamman's association with both the powerful divine mother and ordinary village communities.
And the connection to the Kedara Gowri Vratam? Well, she is Mariya-amman, of course, the one who was changed or transformed, like Siva and Parvati were together transformed into Ardhanariswara, like we will each be transformed in the undertaking of this vratam.
All those taking nonbu at this temple had brought flowers and leaves (bilvam, in one case) to place on the deity as they circled clockwise while the priest mediated with the words of the vratam and why it was being undertaken. There is a story for every aspect of this, he said, and all history is an aideegam or belief.