Nagaswamy - 6 Temples of Village Gods

Village shrine under a tree
(near Kanyakumari, Tamilnadu)

Village temples in India owe their origin to tribal belief in nature spirits and in their benevolent and malevolent powers. Trees, rivers, mountains, tanks, the sea, lightning, wind and the like have grown into making village temples. Fertility cults, Mother Goddess, Village goddess, Border Guardian are also common

Village guardian deity (near Vilupuram, Tamilnadu)
with uniformed police!

City Goddesses

There are references to the deity of the city of Pushkalavati in inscriptions. Campapati was the Goddess of the city of Kaveripumpattinam, also called Campa, as was Madurapati for Madurai.

Ayyanar, near Arasur, Vilupuram district
Photo: Thyagarajan Ekambaram

Nagaswamy suggests that the hunter Revanta, son of Surya, hunting with dogs on his horse, has taken the shape of Ayyan Mahashasta, popularly called Ayyanar. Revanta is mentioned in texts in Kerala while Silappadikaram refers to Sasta or Masaattan. Huge terracotta horses, or elephants, related to Ayyanar can be found in every village in Tamilnadu, often accompanied by his consorts Purana and Pushkala. Pidari gods can also be found in several villages.

Revanta and dogs,
Ayyanar temple, near Vilupuram

Adayar Munisvarar

SaptaMatrika and Nagas

Temples dedicated to SaptaMatrikas have a place in the layout of villages. Naga cults are omnipresent also, the antiquity of which is lost in the prehistoric period. Stones with inscribed snakes and worship of anthills considered as snake dens are common. This serpent cult was associated with fertility cults, worshipping of snake is believed to help deliver children.

Naga images, Perungulam, near Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu

Hero Stones

Worship of heroes who have laid down their lives for community are commemorated with hero stones, called Nadukal, found in thousands in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Saurashtra and Himachal Pradesh. Often erected as dolmens, with three upright slabs and topped by a capstone, they have the figure of the hero carved on the slabs, usually with weapons like spears, sword or bows and arrow. Accessories like a container with lid, a spouted pitcher or a mirror are often shown with them.

A common belief was that a heroic death ended in an ascent to heaven. The spirit of the hero is believed to reside in the stone and act as a guardian. When communities migrate they take their hero stones and beliefs with them. Some of these heroes are elevated to status of deities. Often these may be community heroes even unfairly executed by orders of a king.

Madurai Veeran, Sudalai Madan, Annanmaar, Karuppanan have such legends around them.

nadukal - hero stone - man who killed a tiger

Brave Animals

In an incident where a hero guarding buffaloes was killed by robbers, but his dog chased the robber, and was also killed. Villagers honored both dog and master by erecting hero stones and portraying their figures. This is oldest known memorial for an animal. A rooster also earned a hero stone in the 7^th century!

Hero stone for two dogs which died fighting a wild boar
8th-9th century
Inscriptions Exhibit, Madras University

Chaste Women

A chaste wife dying in a sati, a wronged women, these too become objects of worship. Kannagi of Silappadikaram, who was worshipped Vira maa pattini is the outstanding example. Tribals to emperors thronged to worship her.

Renuka, mother of Parasurama, whose was ordered to be beheaded by her husband is also one such goddess. In several temples, the severed head of Renuka is the object of worship. Offerings of food, animal sacrifices and liquor are common and are then ceremoniously partaken by worshippers. Nagaswamy opines that such animal sacrifices are blown out of proportion.

sati stone - Madras Egmore museum

Folk Festivals

Celebrated annually, with communal dancing and singing, trances and soothsaying, prayers to ward off diseases and troubles, holding courts to solve domestic problems and disputes, folk festivals play an important part of village life. These are the prime inspiration for folk music and dance. Hundred of ballads commemorate folk heroes. Since village folk are excessively conservative, their dresses ornamentation and mode of singing have been conserved for centuries. Folk customs have merged into the classical in later times. 

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This essay is one of a series of summaries of papers presented in international seminars by Dr Nagaswamy. The summaries in this series were presented by me at a lecture titled Nagaswamy - Beyond Borders at Tamil Heritage Trusts' Pechu Kacheri 2014 at Tatvaloka, Chennai.

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