Maari – the Mother

This article introduces Goddess Maariamman who is the local deity in several villages across South India. Devotees worship Her for relief from viral diseases and chicken pox, measles, etc.

- PROF SUDHA SESHAYYAN

In the hoary tradition of Mother Goddess worship, Goddess Maariamman ranks high, both in belief and effect.

The goddess is hailed by different names like Maari amman, Maari aathaa, Maari and Maari aayi and is seen almost in every village of Tamil Nadu. She resides under the neem tree or near an ant-hill. She is often hooded by a five-headed or a sevenheaded snake. She expedites marriages and grants children. More than others, she removes infirmity and disease.

The Tamil term ‘maari’ means ‘rain’. The ancient Tamils personified rain and the effects of rain, namely, coolness and fertility as a beautiful woman and in turn, worshipped her. In as much as a mother feeds her children, rain feeds the world and the soil. Hence, the ancient people looked at ‘rain’ as the Mother who offers fertility and flourish to the soil thereby also making the people of the earth healthy and prosperous. ‘Maari’ – the term for rain, and ‘amman’ – the term for mother, were combined to give the goddess the name ‘Maari amman’.

Why is she a graama devatha of almost every village?

There is an interesting and legendary story about maari amman.

She was originally called Renuka. She was the wife of a rishi by name, Jamadagni. The sons of a cruel king by name Kaartha Veerya, killed Jamadagni. Seeing the cruel fate that befell her beloved husband, Renuka jumped into fire. But as she was an