Well readers, I managed to type the title in tamil but I cannot pen down my thoughts in tamil.
Though I can read and speak good tamil, I cannot write that effectively in tamil without grave errors in spelling.
For past few years, I have been seeing some terrible lamb sacrifices that happen every year as a annual festival in what is called குட்டி குடித்தல்.
What they do is, the trance dancer called மருளாளி drinks goat blood as a sacrifical offering to the agency of sub-deities surrounding this devi.
I am not sure what is the meaning of the phrases மருளாளி or குட்டி குடித்தல். குடித்தல் means drinking that much I know.
So this thing was very gory to read in net resources and I used to ponder over this time to time.
Reason being I am much into shakthi upasana literature and pure Love to Divine Mother as one of moksha sadhana, I could not just ignore this stuff and carry on.
Thousands of lambs getting sacrificed in the name of Divine Mother . I agree the same thing takes place in Kamkya one of the principle shakthi peetams in India & almost in all of tarapeeths and devi shrines across India, east to west & north to south.
But this deity being in my same native place, a bit of more interest aroused in me especially on this devi form. I being from trichy never knew about Her until for past few years.
Upon more research on web, I found the photographs of this main deity taken from the sanctum sanctorum hall.
I also saw the outside view of the temple surrounded by bushy green fields and river like streams flowing.
I saw the pictures of the deity that used to come in procession every year and that which is made of mild bamboo strips or something like that.
All this kindled a deep interest to see this form of kuzhumayi amman. I dont currently live at Trichy so I had to plan a trip to get a glimpse of Her clubbing with other personal plans.
I would say that seeing the photos , I was a bit nervous also , because the form of the devi was very ugra and the associated practices the villagers do every year added to my fear a lot.
I pondered over whether to visit or not, but finally I made up my mind to visit once.
From Trichy N S B road , on an evening I was waiting in the road to catch an auto but still was in a dilemma.
Adding to this, I know only two details of this deity -- one is the name kuzhumayi amman and another is the name of the place -- Uyyakondan River, where the main shrine is located.
I banked upon the auto driver's skills in Tamil Nadu and their friendly nature to locate places & help their customers. I let go few autos aimlessly and suddenly stopped at random on one guy.
This auto wala was on his late early 20s and picked me up for a charge of Rs 300/- to the place with an offer of return.
From his words I thought he knew the place but I was proved wrong very soon.
But he spoke to different people at different instances and told about the temple name to locate the same.
Our travel path slowly got changed from city limits to a village zone . The passer-by people guided him but looked strangely at me, not sure why.
Finally when I saw the temple towers and the location exactly like that I saw in internet, I was a bit excited.
As I alighted , I told the auto driver that I will take at least an hour to offer my prayers and come back. He was a bit uneasy but soon he was happy to wait seeing my offer for more rupees.
I saw the temple gates were being opened and someone was cutting the old festoons of leaves and flowers that were present on the entrance with a big knife but not yet a sickle. The plantain roots fell down just few feet away from me. Probably a violent welcome from kuzhumayi amman.
I thought there will be no one to offer poojas but I found the poojari and few other middle aged men and all were happy to welcome me.
I scolded myself to have forgotten to bring some rose flowers and fruits & incense as offerings for the devi. I was not so mindful because I thought the temple will be deserted at evening times and the poojari may not be there. I would like to avoid coconuts because it becomes tough for disposal.
A lady over there offered to sell coconuts and banana with a type of green flower which she called some markondu. I had to settle with this offer though I would personally want to offer apples and rose both of which I like very much.
I was a bit cautious to take my steps for it is a village deity , that too ferocious and I should not hurt their sentiments by intruding fastly. I dont want to get the impression of a curiosity seeker coming casually to just look upon things.
Seeing my hesitation the poojari offered a warm smile and lead me inside the main sanctum sanctorum hall.
I was a bit surprised to enter too close to the deity and saw with my physical eyes her roaring ferocious form. Just on the next small mandap from the main garba grhua, left was placed a Ganesh statue and on the right a guardian deity. The hot atmosphere of the tiny room added to the excitement and vibrating pulses .
I was sweating all over my face but slowly helped myself with my hand-towel.
I am not sure whether this poojari is the one who drinks the blood every year but I am sure he must be playing an active role in the festivities every year.
Nevertheless I wondered how someone who can invite a stranger very warmly and have this much sincerity in his divine profession could turn so violent at the sacrificial time.
Being a devi devotee and expounder of various philosophical and devi sadhanas like das maha vidhyas , seeing the deity, I know something is very divine in the atmosphere inspite of the violent background that surrounds this deity. I was captivated by the force emanating from the form and a strange feeling of safety & comfort to just stand before Her.
It was evening time when the poojari offered some rice pongal at a well carved stone near the Ganesh statue.
Then he showed aarthi meanwhile few visitors came . They came and went immediately.
The poojari showed the aarthi reverentially to me and I accepted it humbly.
I wanted to sit for some time, so I asked his permission , he gladly asked to sit as long as I like.
My breath & beat of the pulse was very fast, slowly relaxing seeing the deity form with the sacrifice mystery going on in my mind in the background.
I placed few prayers and asked pardon if I intruded Her privacy and tapas with a critique attitude on the main element of sacrifice taking place in her name.
I finished my prayer and came out , when I heard the few people gathered talking about some sacrifice going to take place just now. I grew restless and nervous when I learnt from the poojari that it was only a few days away for the main kutti kudithal festival.
So in a plan to rush fast , I asked to confirm that some goat is going to be sacrificed right now or not?
Fortunately he answered in the negative and I got relieved to just roam around the area for few minutes before taking the auto without having to rush. Probably I misunderstood their conversation which could have been on the arrangements for the grand scale goat sacrifice.
I wanted to speak to the poojari about kutti kudithal because he gave an yellow coloured paper invitation and mentioned about this ritual also.
But I chose not to speak because it may create a prejudice opinion about this deity. Further I did not want to ask questions in the midst of the village men who were all surrounding him.
While coming back, the form of the devi was in my mind very clear and a sense of peace mixed with the pondering mind over the blood bath that was going to take place only a few days ahead.
Well, my visit to this devi in the physical plane had then got over but I wanted to carry the subtle contact & prayers to Her further. So I clearly visualized the garba gruha and her form in my mind. I meditated on Her form and the garba gruha at my leisure times.
I just provide the two close photos of amma taken from web.
This is not something I took and all courtesy of the photo goes to below account of picasa albums only.
https://picasaweb.google.com/110096802860179212178/KuzhumaiAmmanKulumaiAmmanTrichyTemplePuthurTemple#5602437348212101778
https://picasaweb.google.com/110096802860179212178/#5602437576390438098
In the next article, I am going to write about my mental association and the discernment I got about this Devi.
So the next article though it is also about kuzhumayi amman, it is going to be a topic of interest for sincere devi devotees , who have more philosophical and inquisitive inclinations on sadhana, moksha , karma etc..
In the next article, I am going to talk about this kutti kudithal festival, sacrifices in general, the psychology of people who does all this rituals, the possibilities of karma from those acts, vedantic concepts about Devi worship, the Great Illusion or Maha Maya etc.
So whoever knows this deity, whoever knows this ritual , may follow me, you may have something as food for your thoughts.
I look forward to write with few references from Shankaracharya and Gaudapada who have had converted many ferocious devi deities to satvic ones. We will also explore the famous saint Bamaksheb and few others. We will cover in detail Dasa Maha Vidhyas , silent meditations and visualizations of devi forms etc.
I close this article with Amma Kuzhumayi's Divine blessings for She really implored me in a very subtle manner to write about Her.
Earlier I discarded my mental suggestions to write about Her, but until I started penning down, I was not at complacency.
There is indeed a fact in the innocent villager's faith and trust put on this Devi by them. We will see about it in coming series of articles.
Jai Mata Di.
Though I can read and speak good tamil, I cannot write that effectively in tamil without grave errors in spelling.
For past few years, I have been seeing some terrible lamb sacrifices that happen every year as a annual festival in what is called குட்டி குடித்தல்.
What they do is, the trance dancer called மருளாளி drinks goat blood as a sacrifical offering to the agency of sub-deities surrounding this devi.
I am not sure what is the meaning of the phrases மருளாளி or குட்டி குடித்தல். குடித்தல் means drinking that much I know.
So this thing was very gory to read in net resources and I used to ponder over this time to time.
Reason being I am much into shakthi upasana literature and pure Love to Divine Mother as one of moksha sadhana, I could not just ignore this stuff and carry on.
Thousands of lambs getting sacrificed in the name of Divine Mother . I agree the same thing takes place in Kamkya one of the principle shakthi peetams in India & almost in all of tarapeeths and devi shrines across India, east to west & north to south.
But this deity being in my same native place, a bit of more interest aroused in me especially on this devi form. I being from trichy never knew about Her until for past few years.
Upon more research on web, I found the photographs of this main deity taken from the sanctum sanctorum hall.
I also saw the outside view of the temple surrounded by bushy green fields and river like streams flowing.
I saw the pictures of the deity that used to come in procession every year and that which is made of mild bamboo strips or something like that.
All this kindled a deep interest to see this form of kuzhumayi amman. I dont currently live at Trichy so I had to plan a trip to get a glimpse of Her clubbing with other personal plans.
I would say that seeing the photos , I was a bit nervous also , because the form of the devi was very ugra and the associated practices the villagers do every year added to my fear a lot.
I pondered over whether to visit or not, but finally I made up my mind to visit once.
From Trichy N S B road , on an evening I was waiting in the road to catch an auto but still was in a dilemma.
Adding to this, I know only two details of this deity -- one is the name kuzhumayi amman and another is the name of the place -- Uyyakondan River, where the main shrine is located.
I banked upon the auto driver's skills in Tamil Nadu and their friendly nature to locate places & help their customers. I let go few autos aimlessly and suddenly stopped at random on one guy.
This auto wala was on his late early 20s and picked me up for a charge of Rs 300/- to the place with an offer of return.
From his words I thought he knew the place but I was proved wrong very soon.
But he spoke to different people at different instances and told about the temple name to locate the same.
Our travel path slowly got changed from city limits to a village zone . The passer-by people guided him but looked strangely at me, not sure why.
Finally when I saw the temple towers and the location exactly like that I saw in internet, I was a bit excited.
As I alighted , I told the auto driver that I will take at least an hour to offer my prayers and come back. He was a bit uneasy but soon he was happy to wait seeing my offer for more rupees.
I saw the temple gates were being opened and someone was cutting the old festoons of leaves and flowers that were present on the entrance with a big knife but not yet a sickle. The plantain roots fell down just few feet away from me. Probably a violent welcome from kuzhumayi amman.
I thought there will be no one to offer poojas but I found the poojari and few other middle aged men and all were happy to welcome me.
I scolded myself to have forgotten to bring some rose flowers and fruits & incense as offerings for the devi. I was not so mindful because I thought the temple will be deserted at evening times and the poojari may not be there. I would like to avoid coconuts because it becomes tough for disposal.
A lady over there offered to sell coconuts and banana with a type of green flower which she called some markondu. I had to settle with this offer though I would personally want to offer apples and rose both of which I like very much.
I was a bit cautious to take my steps for it is a village deity , that too ferocious and I should not hurt their sentiments by intruding fastly. I dont want to get the impression of a curiosity seeker coming casually to just look upon things.
Seeing my hesitation the poojari offered a warm smile and lead me inside the main sanctum sanctorum hall.
I was a bit surprised to enter too close to the deity and saw with my physical eyes her roaring ferocious form. Just on the next small mandap from the main garba grhua, left was placed a Ganesh statue and on the right a guardian deity. The hot atmosphere of the tiny room added to the excitement and vibrating pulses .
I was sweating all over my face but slowly helped myself with my hand-towel.
I am not sure whether this poojari is the one who drinks the blood every year but I am sure he must be playing an active role in the festivities every year.
Nevertheless I wondered how someone who can invite a stranger very warmly and have this much sincerity in his divine profession could turn so violent at the sacrificial time.
Being a devi devotee and expounder of various philosophical and devi sadhanas like das maha vidhyas , seeing the deity, I know something is very divine in the atmosphere inspite of the violent background that surrounds this deity. I was captivated by the force emanating from the form and a strange feeling of safety & comfort to just stand before Her.
It was evening time when the poojari offered some rice pongal at a well carved stone near the Ganesh statue.
Then he showed aarthi meanwhile few visitors came . They came and went immediately.
The poojari showed the aarthi reverentially to me and I accepted it humbly.
I wanted to sit for some time, so I asked his permission , he gladly asked to sit as long as I like.
My breath & beat of the pulse was very fast, slowly relaxing seeing the deity form with the sacrifice mystery going on in my mind in the background.
I placed few prayers and asked pardon if I intruded Her privacy and tapas with a critique attitude on the main element of sacrifice taking place in her name.
I finished my prayer and came out , when I heard the few people gathered talking about some sacrifice going to take place just now. I grew restless and nervous when I learnt from the poojari that it was only a few days away for the main kutti kudithal festival.
So in a plan to rush fast , I asked to confirm that some goat is going to be sacrificed right now or not?
Fortunately he answered in the negative and I got relieved to just roam around the area for few minutes before taking the auto without having to rush. Probably I misunderstood their conversation which could have been on the arrangements for the grand scale goat sacrifice.
I wanted to speak to the poojari about kutti kudithal because he gave an yellow coloured paper invitation and mentioned about this ritual also.
But I chose not to speak because it may create a prejudice opinion about this deity. Further I did not want to ask questions in the midst of the village men who were all surrounding him.
While coming back, the form of the devi was in my mind very clear and a sense of peace mixed with the pondering mind over the blood bath that was going to take place only a few days ahead.
Well, my visit to this devi in the physical plane had then got over but I wanted to carry the subtle contact & prayers to Her further. So I clearly visualized the garba gruha and her form in my mind. I meditated on Her form and the garba gruha at my leisure times.
I just provide the two close photos of amma taken from web.
This is not something I took and all courtesy of the photo goes to below account of picasa albums only.
https://picasaweb.google.com/110096802860179212178/KuzhumaiAmmanKulumaiAmmanTrichyTemplePuthurTemple#5602437348212101778
https://picasaweb.google.com/110096802860179212178/#5602437576390438098
In the next article, I am going to write about my mental association and the discernment I got about this Devi.
So the next article though it is also about kuzhumayi amman, it is going to be a topic of interest for sincere devi devotees , who have more philosophical and inquisitive inclinations on sadhana, moksha , karma etc..
In the next article, I am going to talk about this kutti kudithal festival, sacrifices in general, the psychology of people who does all this rituals, the possibilities of karma from those acts, vedantic concepts about Devi worship, the Great Illusion or Maha Maya etc.
So whoever knows this deity, whoever knows this ritual , may follow me, you may have something as food for your thoughts.
I look forward to write with few references from Shankaracharya and Gaudapada who have had converted many ferocious devi deities to satvic ones. We will also explore the famous saint Bamaksheb and few others. We will cover in detail Dasa Maha Vidhyas , silent meditations and visualizations of devi forms etc.
I close this article with Amma Kuzhumayi's Divine blessings for She really implored me in a very subtle manner to write about Her.
Earlier I discarded my mental suggestions to write about Her, but until I started penning down, I was not at complacency.
There is indeed a fact in the innocent villager's faith and trust put on this Devi by them. We will see about it in coming series of articles.
Jai Mata Di.
