INTRODUCTION
This research is about how, very few Pre-Vedic deities multiply themselves into various forms in accordance to the locations and native names as their key of acceptance. Though their shrines are now famous, these deities were accessible to common man and their back stories simple. Until the Vedic Gods made their way to the Puranas turning all the Tutelary Deities into Demi-Gods, who were classified as those who serve the supreme Vedic Gods.
There are historian and scholars who are putting out the facts of these Pre-Vedic deities and their survival was a result of the struggles their devotees went through.
1.
In a country like India that’s culturally diverse, there is always a battle amongst clans, sects and races to prove themselves the cream of the society.
The haughty sects are those who won this battle, either by strength or “by any means necessary”. Though survival becomes secondary, holding the higher status is always envisioned as the best way to survive by human race.
Things get dark, when “hunt for hunger” becomes “hunting for sport”. When the remnants decay, the picture never looks pleasant, unfortunately, this is what happens during the process of maintaining the higher stature in society. Falling prey to this battle are cultures and deities of those under.
One such deity is the topic of discussion recently.
2.
A hunt for what’s lost, a pastoral deity who has various names in various regions. Stories of this deity has too many versions depending on the cultural exchanges and geographical conditions.
Few of this deity’s names are:
Mhasoba/ Mhaskoba/ Mhatoba
Betal/ Vetal
Pothuraju
Pothiraja
Karuppu
Sudalai
Vishnu Maya/ Sathan Swamy
He is considered as the deity of the ignoble compared to the Puranic or Vedic deities. The topic is too vast to comprehend, hence we are going to take this step by step for easier understanding.
In this, there are numerous stories associated with each name of the same deity.
There was once a period where nomads, tribes of various kind, diverse cults walked on this land. They coexisted without having to prove the superiority of each other’s deities or of their own.
Now, let’s go through the theology of Deccan deities, with different versions of each/ same.
3.
MHASOBA
First of the most perplexed and misinterpreted pre-vedic deity, which was later absorbed into puranas as the most unpleasant entity.
The Name “MHAS/ MHASO” originates from “MAHIS” which later becomes Mahish/ Mahisha. “BA” refers to a word used to address someone respectfully.
Though there are numerous temples for Mhasoba all over Maharastra, India, there are no background stories of the Deity’s origin.
But in Maharastra He is considered to be one of the most popular deity that links their culture. He also has a lot of folk stories.
In the land of the Maratha, it is thought that the birthplace of Mhasoba is Kharwade, Pune. In the 13th century, Bauji had a vision of Mhasoba’s birth in the present place of the Temple of Mhasoba. Though it’s classified as a ‘B Class’ pilgrimage, a 100 tola crown is installed on the Deity. It’s a 400-year-old temple as mentioned by the temple administration.
He is a Kshetrapal/ Grama Devata, who accepts animal sacrifices. Since He is a kshetrapal, He is often associated with Khandoba or Bhairav. He is the deity of Pastoral, Agricultural and Shephard community.
He accepts alcohol, meat or any provided with love offered by His devotees. Later walks down the hill and interacts with rustic deities who reside in the lap-lands or villages nearby. He prefers to stay in the robust environments or open-to-sky.
His story says: He travelled from the Konkan region all the way to Pune, He reaches a mountain top or a hilltop in Hinjewadi, Pune. He was accompanied by Hirai and Sitai, the sisters who were thirsty. He then requests one of His devotees to take Him down the hill and leave Him near river Mula. Thereby landing in Wakad, Pune where He was smitten by Jogu Bai’s beauty. They fall in love and marry. Every year on Chaitra Pournami day, a palanquin is carried from Hinjewadi to Wakad marking the marriage of Mhasoba and Jogu Bai.
Later it is seen that Jogi Bai objects the company of Hirai and Sitai. Here is where the folk stories and folk songs bring in their flavors of imagination by providing various reasons, as to why Jogu Bai envied their company. Later, Mhasoba decides to drown the sisters in Mula river. This incident is witnessed by a fisherman and a washer man. It is said that the sisters’ bodies floats on the opposite banks of river Mula where a shrine for them exists. The body of the fisherman and the washer man who were killed by Mhasoba while they witnessed the sisters drown floated near Hinjewadi.
There are so many other incidents that is said to have occurred like Mhasoba along with this wife Jogu Bai visits His elder sister near Kothrud, Pune. Which again signifies the harvest season of farmers, as annual event is observed at the Tukai Devi temple.
He is often associated with the demon god ‘Vetal’ by the Dhangar community. In the Konkan region and in Goa, He is seen as Vetal. Mhasoba is a pre-vedic deity with no protocols for worshipping. He is more friendly and accessible. He is a tantric deity who always accompanies the Seven Sisters called Sati Asaras.
The Sati Asaras, who are misunderstood for Apsaras because of their association with ‘AP’ – water. They are called Sapta Kanni in the Delta Regions, Sath Saheli or Behne in North, Saptha Mathrika, Yelu Kannimargal and more.
Mhasoba is often seen as their guardian, brother in some areas, companion in a few. Hence there is no specific relationship mentioned anywhere. However, the majority of people believe Him to be a guardian of these seven sisters.
Initially Mhasoba or the Sati Asaras had no proper idols or sculptures. As they were worshipped by nomads, tribes and shepherds who constantly moved with their herd, they had no specific shape, (but in recent times, a Buffalo shaped metal head is being installed). The herd placed ‘8’ stones on a podium or platform, where the biggest stone being the Mhasoba and the remaining being the 7-sisters. Usually, these stones are decorated with turmeric paste and flowers during night, Things like alcohol, meat and cigars are being placed in front of their deity and the group rests alongside hoping their Kshetrapal would protect them at night in the wild.
AFTER BEING ABSORBED INTO PURANAS
PURANIC STATUS:
This rustic, unrefined tantric deity becomes Mahisasura who is slayed by ‘Durga’. This is to represent the brahminical superiority over the pre-vedic deities. Even now, some of these pre-vedic deities are non-brahminical temples, where sacrifices are still being practiced, and all these tantric deities are classified under Atharvana Veda. The Puranas are being altered and extended from time to time as we all see. When failed attempts of eliminating these Deccan Deities, they have been accepted as forms of ‘Shiva’ in the augmentation process.
Mhasoba or Mhatoba in Telugu states: The POTHURAJU.
4.
POTHURAJU:
The migrating shepherds and cowherds are seen moving around the subcontinent in every direction, in search of food and pastoral land for grazing.
When this bunch enters the Telugu region, ’Mhasoba’ becomes ‘POTHURAJU’. The literal translation is “POTHU” means Buffalo and “RAJU” means King. Here He becomes the KING OF BUFFALOES. He again is addressed as Pothuraju, Pothurayudu, Pothulayya, Pothulingudu etc. Again the name Pothulingudu signifies the idea of being adopted by Shaivaites.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, He is the guardian deity of the Seven (7) Sisters, also the numbers are always seven (7), forty-nine (49), ninety-nine (99), hundred-and-one or hundred-and-eight etc. These numbers of Goddesses usually vary according to regions.
He is a guardian of these village Goddesses, sometimes times their brother who wards off the evil in the village. He walks ahead of these Goddesses protecting them. Sometimes He is seen alone without any Goddesses to accompany. He alone becomes the Kshetrapal or the Grama-Devata. In the Maratha region, it’s a formless stone used for worship, but in Andhra & Telangana ‘A Twin Sticks/ Poles/ Pillar-like-stones/ 2-lingam shaped structures are installed on the ground and worshipped as POTHURAJU. It is said that these 2-sticks or lingams represent the Horns of a Buffalo. Maybe this could be something that the tribe could have picked on their travel to new lands. One can witness the change in position of Pothuraju in some temples. When he is with multiple Goddesses, He’s in a corner and when He’s with one Goddess, He stands right in front of Her, to keep a watch on Her at all times. Just like supervising and keeping Her protected, like a concerned brother.
There is a story in Andhra Pradesh, that says the brother of Devi Ankamma i.e., Pothularaju was not offered anything for quite a long time and this increased His hunger. This enraged Devi Ankamma, who warns the villagers about unleashing a famine. They immediately sacrificed Buffaloes, Goats, Poultry etc. and the head of the buffaloes were kept on either sides of His idol. The feast ended by offering unbroken or un-cracked coconuts, tamarind rice, alcohol and new clothes. The main deity Ankamma is still deprived of all these offerings, as the priests banned meat offerings to the Goddess. Such practices of offering satvik food spread to all the female deities, the idols of Pothuraju were kept outside the temple. Banning meat was seen as a sign of purity and attaining higher stature. In Telangana, Ankamma/ Yellamma or Maha Kali in some cases, Pothuraju is seen walking in front of or alongside the ‘Bonalu’, a divine offering to the female deity or His sister. This practice is an epitome of a concerned brother about His hungry sister.
In some temples, it is very difficult to identify Pothuraju’s existence in the temple premises. It is because a 6-inch or 8-inch conical or lingam-like structure is erected on a podium, which looks like a penis, installed right in front of the Goddess. When a non-brahmin priest is asked about that, he says that it’s the very first Pothuraju’s form that was installed when the female deity’s temple emerged.
Now a days, all the Pothuraju structures, stones or the twin pillars or single lingam-like structure are taking forms. They are being replaced by stone sculptures where a male figure holds – sword, whip, sickle, bowl of turmeric, skull, slayed head, club, shield etc. and in some cases lion. Usually, a mix and match of any of these. We can see that, very old temples of Pothuraju like ‘Kalyanapu Lovu, Andhra Pradesh’, a Shiva Lingam itself is being treated as Pothuraju. These changes may have been initiated due to the avail of stone sculptors. Also, as a part of development in approaching a formless deity. Although these idols can make the devotees feel more connected, this also might be a result of cultural exchanges in the recent times.
STORY IN THE LAND OF TELUGU
He attained a Puranic status among the Telugu crowd, as the entire region was sanskritized, the culture and language of the existing tribes in these regions were influenced.
He is said to be or seen as an avatar of Vishnu. Once when Rama and Sita had a petty fight during a sport in their exile. Sita invites Rama for a rematch or in some versions She challenges Rama for a different sport, but then Rama denies due to lack of interest. This enrages Sita and ends up cursing Rama that in his forthcoming avatar, he would be surrounded by wicked men. Rama in turn curses Sita saying, She would be born as KAMAVALLI and she would laugh/ smile every time she hears his name. Although, Kamavalli does not occupy many or any positions in any of Pothiraju’s or any other Temples.
Though there are no such mentions about this story in Valmiki Ramayana. Hence, these can be folklores that many have been sprouted from the imagination of some while adopting a local deity into puranas. There should have been no objections for contamination of the Original Idea of POTHURAJU as people would have felt it is in turn glorifying their deity.
The story continues that, Shiva placed the energy of Lakshmi in a pond. When Parvati was parched, She consumed seven (7) gulps of water, creating the seven Goddesses. Later Shiva and Parvati could not take care of these sever Goddesses and hence they created Pothuraju from the eldest sister to guard them. That is the reason for people to believe that He is the embodiment of His elder sister Gangamma/ Yellamma. Brahma created triplets out of this pond, and Pothuraju took Kamavalli, one among triplets to be His wife.
In some accounts, He is guardian deity of a village who blocks evil spirits and diseases from entering the village. In a village called Kesavaram, Andhra Pradesh, there were accounts of Him guiding the villagers who lost their way, sometimes he holds a flame-beau or a flame-torch at nights, blessing the travelers en-route who are too scared of the dark. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, He is not seen as Tantric deity, instead He is a guardian who demands sacrifices, meat, alcohol, cigars etc. Here He whips His devotees, curing their ailments, evil aura, prosperity etc. This idea of whiplashes should have been espoused from the concept of ‘Kadak Lakshmi’ from the Maharastran tribes, where the Pothuraju tribe themselves walking in front of ‘Kadak Lakshmi’, a deity carried in a basket by women. Kadak Lakshmi – the very strict elder sister of Lakshmi who punishes impartially, hence the name ‘Kadak’. He is seen as an embodiment of Kadak Lakshmi i.e. Yellamma. He clears way for Her by walking in front of Her. This self-punishing act without a reason, should have been a later development of customs by their clans.
There are more folklores associated with Him. Folklores cannot be ignored just for the reason of not being documented as a transcript. Sometimes the folklores are seen to have stuck to the ‘Original’ and are more reliable sources. As we can observe that these ‘left-out deities’, in the latter period of the puranic era have not last its followers. Hence when they are absorbed into the puranas, all the male deities are either associated with Shiva or Vishnu and all the female deities with Parvati or Lakshmi. A status upgrade is given to these rustic deities and was accepted by their followers, as their deities were glorified. But they never realized the fact of its roots being sabotaged.
The migrating Telugu shepherds/ Yadavas or the Kamma community during the NAYAKAR/ NAICKER period, moved further down south, thus introducing this deity to the new Nayakar/ Naicker territories and northern parts of Tamil Nadu. There is another story of ‘KATAMARAJU’, another pastoral deity who sought blessings of Pothuraju before migrating or waging a battle. Hence, when these Yadava communities migrated to Tamil Nadu, they accepted Pothuraju as well as Katamaraju as their Tutelary deities.
However, there was a parallel existence of the same deity in a different name in the ‘KONGU BELT’ and dry regions like Madurai, Dindigul etc. The people in these areas called Him “KARUPPU”, literally translates to Black.
The Pothuraju cult entered Tamil Nadu during the Pallavas rule, who were hiring narrators of Bharata Puranam to keep up the high spirits of their soldiers. A new deity was also included as a part of Draupadi pantheon. Including new deities into a newly developing pantheon was not new. All it needed was a story to connect with the most superior deity of the pantheon or around which the story was developed.
STORIES IN THE LAND OF TAMIZH
As the deity made its way into the land of Tamils, He took the form of ‘nadukkal’ (similar to ‘veergal’ in Karnataka and Maharastra) initially. Later when He found a spot for Himself, He was given a bas-relief structure and wooden idol forms. So during this period, He gets a shape from a shapeless or conical structure. To a human-like sculpture and lingam.
According to few authors who studied the Draupati pantheon, the story about Pothuraju is:
‘Sunita’, the descendent of Pandavas, grandson of Janamejaya relocates his kingdom to now-called Gingee, Tamil Nadu. He is seen constantly threatened by Rochaka, a demonic force. Rochaka had a boon of thousand heads emerging every time his head was slayed. The boon of thousand heads could have been used to describe the severity of his cruelty and strength. However, if his final/ 1000th head fell on the grounds, the slayer would die immediately, bringing Rochaka back to life.
Worried king Sunita sought advice from a few learned Brahmins, who suggested invoking one of his ancestor’s, Goddess Draupadi, who was Kali Herself and seek Her help. Once that was successful, She orders him to bring Pothiraja, the King of Virata, who was then residing in the eternally burning sacrificial fire somewhere in Kalinga region (the northern coast of Andhra Pradesh). She felt He was the only person who could assist Her fighting this demon, also catch his final head before touching the ground.
When king Sunita reached Kalinga, it is said that Pothiraja emerged out of sacrificial fire along with five (5) divine weapons that Draupadi would need for the battle. Even today, Pothiraja idols are seen holding the 1000th head in one hand. Since then, the ‘muthal-maryadai’ i.e., Pooja offerings and respects are first dedicated to Pothiraja in all the Draupadi temples, even today. During the time of the annual celebrations, Draupadi and Pothuraju are both the recipients of Buffalo sacrifices but, the practice now is brought to an end.
About 200 yards from the Gingee temple, there is the ‘thee-panjan-kovil’, adjacent to it is the temple of King Sunita, where he was cremated. However, the sati who entered the pyre was Sunita’s concubine, a Telugu speaking Naidu for whom he left all his provisions. Since his wife failed to commit to her husband.
The Konars, Velalars, Pillais, Muthaliars, Vanniars and a few Brahmin communities claim their lineage of these deities. Hence, the five divine weapons like “Veera Jaattai, Veera Kantham/ Veera Kadhgam, Bandara Petti, Kunthayutham and Silambu” are shared as symbols that represent these communities.
This story is recited only in the northern dry mountain areas of Tamil Nadu. There are variants of this story according to different communities. The same deity has another version of story when He enters the borders of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This version is widespread among the Thigala community, who claim to be Tamil Vanniars.
There is one significant mutation of this deity, during this phase. He is accepted in the Draupadi pantheon as the ‘Veera Bhadra of Kurukshetra’ maybe because He has a sword and decapitated head in his hands. The narrators of ‘Bharata Koothu’ also calls Him ‘Pormannan Veera Bhadran’, ‘Ugra Bhadran’, as there were already many stories of Pothiraja that He was an avatar of Siva or Siva’s son. This widespread confusion caused an impact on the 7-sisters concept.
People started installing Veera Bhadra with the ‘Saptha Kannis’ or ‘Sati Asaras’. Thus, taking the place of shapeless Mhasoba or the veergal Pothuraju. Although there are few other reasons like – adopting ‘Saptha Kanyas’ into the ‘SHAKTH MATH’, which later became a part of ‘SHAIVA MATH’, Veera Bhadra of Shaiva Math seemed more appropriate than MHASOBA or POTHURAJU to the Shaivaites. Even today, there are many Draupadi temples that have replaced Pothiraja with Veera Bhadra to glorify the status of Draupadi, thus connecting Her as an avatar of Parvati.
The second story – ‘Elu Suttina Kote’. This story is widely accepted in Karnataka, Thiruvannamalai - TN and Krishnagiri - TN to be the origin of Pothiraja and His past as an oral tradition.
In a place called ‘Sivanandapuri’, it is said that Parvati and Siva decide to spend some alone time together. Parvati builds a sandcastle with seven layered walls, in which Siva places a few divine weapons. There was a problem that the couple realized later, that is if these weapons are moved from their place, the sandcastle may collapse. They decide creating a warrior to safeguard the sandcastle, his name was Pothiraja, King of Buffaloes, the guy who is a recipient of whole coconuts (not broken). He is also provided with hundreds of soldiers to assist him, by Siva.
During the time of Kurukshetra, the Pandavas were in need of divine and powerful weapons to win the war. Krishna suggests that Arjuna and himself should try stealing the divine weapons of Pothiraja, the then King of Sivanandapuri. They both dress up as women, Krishna as a grandmother of Arjuna, trying to sell bangles, reached the castle and rested their backs on the walls of the castle which resulted in a part of the castle getting damaged. This incident is brought to the notice of Pothiraja by His men. Enraged Pothiraja, captures them both. Bewitched by Arjuna’s beauty, when produced in His court, He proposes Arjuna to become His queen. Later He gets furious learning that fact that He was tricked by Krishna and Arjuna.
Krishna is said to have calmed Him down by offering ‘Sanguvati’, Arjuna’s sister to marry Him, but in turn He had to grant them the weapons and participate in the war by the side of Pandavas. The birth of Sanguvati is not mentioned anywhere, nor about this character anywhere in Mahabharata. Finally, the war ends, granting the primal respect and offerings to Pothiraja in all the Pandavas or Draupadi temples, as a token of their gratitude.
There is a small folklore that continues this story at the borders of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, in places like Anantapur, Dharmavaram etc. that, He rested in a village near Anantapur after the Kurukshetra war to grace His herd. Here he was called POTHULAYYA. Now, it has become a Siva temple, because of the error in name change i.e., POTHULINGA or maybe the shape of the deity that resembles lingam. This could have been a misunderstanding for associating Him with Siva.
When the NAYAK/ NAICKER/ NAYAKAR population established their kingdoms in Madurai, Dindigul, Virudhanagar areas, they carried their Kula Devatas like Gangamma, Ankamma, Angalamma, Yellamma etc. along with Pothuraju idols. They built temples for these deities in their new lands. In some instances, they carried stones (in the shape of veergal or nadukkal) and pouches filled with mud from their tutelary (deities) temples to their new settlements.
New temples were later built around these deities, new fascinating stories, stories that also connected the already preceding deity of their new settlements. But, there were few things that remained unchanged, thus guarding the originality of these deities.
In districts like Vridhachalam, Pothiraja temples can be found in every few kilometers that belong to the Telugu speaking communities each having the story of their own. Sometimes, the deity refused to move from the ground it was placed while resting en-route. In some cases, the deity walks along with them, points a place and resting stone, guides His or Her people about the Dos and Don’ts of the Pooja process through an Oracle.
In one such place at the border of Thenkasi and Kerala reserve forest, the Yadava community worshipped an anthill, in which Pothiraja resided. This happened once a year, until a person who belonged to a higher community destroyed the anthill and asked them to leave. After this incident, it is said Pothiraja, unable to bear this insult, wandered looking for a land where He would be treated with respect. He then informs His devotees through an Oracle (Saami-Aadi) that He has now settled in a place near Devipattinam – TN, where the Palm Tree is entwined by a Neem Tree. SO, then a temple is erected in honor of Pothiraja there and His devotees relocate to this new land. But there also were a lot of challenges, while Pothiraja made His way into Tamil Nadu. As the cult of Pothuraju entered Tamil Nadu, crossed the delta regions and moved further south towards Sivagangai, Dindugal etc. A fiercely deity called KARUPPU, was cardinal. He was none other than Pothiraja Himself.
KARUPPU/ KARUPPUSAMY is a complex perplexing topic – to simplify the idea of Karuppu, we must understand the concept that included two different kinds known so far.
First – Karuppu, the primordial one that actually connects to Pothiraja cult.
Secondly – Karuppu, warrior men who lost their lives for a noble cause, sacrifice, trying to guard an ‘Ajivika’ guru or death by aspersion. This category includes various deities with a prefix of the weapons of their expertise or by locations, granting them all with the common title ‘Karuppu’. As Karuppu was a term or a recognition for those who were guards.
Meanwhile, there are deities with names that are a combination of names such as Pothi or Pothiraja, Karuppu, Sudalai, Veeran, Saathan etc. Some deities may have names that have a prefix of suffix of each other’s names like Pothi-Veera, Sudalai-Veeran, Pothi-Karuppu, Veera-Sudalai-Pothi, Maada Karuppu, Aingulathu Veera Pothi etc. and the list goes on. Pothi-Sastha, Veera-Sastha, here Sastha is a term used by people (from Karaikudi area extending up to Kanyakumari and Kerala) to address a respectful person. After the demise of a very respectful person or a selfless martyr, he would be given a position of a guardian deity or a Saathan/ Sasthan temple in these areas. This confusion in mix-n-match of names may have occurred when the deities’ purpose was confused with their names because, all these deities were commonly categorized as guardian deities.
The primordial Karuppu who is called ‘MAADAN’ or ‘SATHAN’, in the Malayalam land, spread through His tales to Tamil Nadu as well, ending up having ‘MAADAN’ or ‘SUDALA MAADAN’ temples. But the chief or prime concept of all these deities' links to Mhasoba or Pothuraja (just for better understanding). Eventually, these deities ended up having different folklores of their own and stood independent losing its connections with each other.
The Primordial Karuppu –
1) When Sita was abandoned by Rama, in the hermitage of Valmiki, it is said that her only-son Lava goes missing. Scared Valmiki who was answerable about this, that occurred during his watch, creates another boy. This new child had to take the place of Lava. Later, Sita is seen walking with Lava into the ashram. Shocked to see another boy, a doppelganger of her son, she draws a line and asks them to crossover. In some versions, a trial by fire, to determine the real son of Rama. The newly created boy by Valmiki out of ‘Kusha Grass’, is half-burnt, giving him a darker complexion. Hence the name Karuppu/ Black. Later the burnt boy requests Sita to accept him as her child, although this is not mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana, just passed on through oral traditions. The original version says Sita gave birth to twins, one resembling her and the darker one resembling Rama. Rama decides to attain Moksha through ‘Jala Samadhi’, he then plans for a coronation ceremony for his sons Lava & Kusha. It is said that Lava ruled his empire with ‘Lavapuri’ (the modern-day Lahore) as the capital of his kingdom. There is a speculation about this capital of Lava with another placed called ‘Shravasthi’. Kusha rules his empire ‘Kushavati’, also called ‘Kush-Kshetra’ with Srinagar as his capital that extended from Kashmir to Indus River. This proves that Kusha, who ruled Kashmir, rules of the chances of being Karuppusamy in the Southern part of Tamil Nadu.
2) In the second story, Veera Bhadra and Kali after Daksha’s head being slayed, a son is born of their union. He resides in graveyards, after few eons he is sent to Ayyanar/ Ayyapan (Siva’s son) by Siva, to serve and protect him. In turn, He would be offered meat, alcohol and cigars. There are various versions of Karuppu Swamy tales. In another version, He is castaway in a box by a Brahmin priest, He then reaches a village in Madurai and resided in an anthill. To this day, people worship the anthill and the temple is built for Him.
3) There is another interesting version where Parvati walks out on her husband over a petty fight, Karuppu follows her like a mama’s boy. He could not live without His mother’s presence and stood very close to her, facing her at all times. Noticing how clung and devoted He was to His mother, Parvati and all the forms of village Goddesses who are associated with Parvati, will have a Karuppu idol in front of them.
It is said that there are 11, 51, 101, 108 etc. types of Karuppusamy. His wives also vary from place to place like Pechi, Pidari, Periyayi etc. Though all these topics are still a topic of debate, we must understand that the primordial Karuppu is Pothiraja or Mhasoba himself. Starting from Andhra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, parts of Odisha and parts of Karnataka, always (a Goddess) a pre-vedic deity will have a Pothiraja in front of her. He will be first to encounter, before approaching a village Goddess. Buffaloes, goats, fowls etc. were sacrificed, where the heads of these animals were kept at the foot of Pothiraja and the cooked meat were served for both the deities. Although these practices have been banned in recent days by the Brahmin priests, there are still few temples which follow these customs. So there was a widespread confusion of the main ferocious guardians that stood in front of the village Goddesses versus those at the gates guardian Ayyapan/ Ayyanar. Recently we can observe that Karuppu, Ayyappa and Goddesses of any form, all these co-exist in the same temple. This could have been the influence of folklores connecting these deities and growing popularity of these deities.
It is to note that initially the ‘Sami-Aadi’ of Karuppusamy (i.e., in temples where Karuppu was the main deity or temples where a Goddess is accompanied) wore a black dress, ornaments, lit cigars and fully drunk Sami-Aadis served as Oracles. They also wore a black dhoti, wore a black cap with horns and ears that resembles a buffalo. Later these were changes like – palm toddy replaced with recent alcohols, the two horns in His crown became three, two ears became four, Salangai (gungurus) took the place of Silambu. These may have occurred as an upgrading part of the decoration process. In olden days, it is said that that Oracle/ Sami-Aadis of Karuppu wore a black dhoti, a helmet-like crown which resembled a buffalo’s head, Silambu of brass, finally the knee and wrist silambus, which are extinct now, fortunately these things are used even today by artists of Theyyam and Bhoota-Kola performers. Decades ago, the dhoti, silambu, crown etc. were offered to Karuppu as a process of their annual celebrations/ get-togethers by families to whim He served as a tutelary deity.
We must understand that Ayyappa/ Ayyanar/ Saathan are revered gurus who would have a guardian, these guardians martyred protecting these gurus of Ajivika. Their weapons like Sangili, Vel, Vaal, Saattai, Urimi etc. would be used as their prefixes like Sangili-Karuppu, Saattai-Adi-Karuppu. Urimi-Maada-Karuppu etc., sometimes situational prefixes based on locations. Mostly where the Oracles of Karuppu is performed, the Karuppu belongs to a Goddess i.e., the Pothuraju or the Black guard.
Before the Bhakti Movement, Karuppu is compared to a demonic force, King of Goblins, resident of graveyards, wanderer in the deep forests. There is a saying –
“
Raavil Katthu Pattaal,
Marathadi Karuppu Adichaal,
Kolli-Vaayan Unnai Azaithaal,
Adangaa-Muni Todarnthaal,
Sami-Aadi Veettin Vazhi
”
Which means, at nights if Katthu (disturbed spirits) possess someone, if a Karuppu hurts/ haunts, if a stubborn Muneeswaran follows you home, run to the exorcist. Annually Karuppu’s hunger for blood and meat had to be satisfied. These similarities prove that Pothiraja and Karuppu are the same. Though, Pothiraja, Karuppu and Muniyandi/ Muneeswaran are known as brothers, it is seen that these stories were just to bring them in one frame, yet portrayed differently.
5.
SUDALAI
This deity also has a puranic birth story. When Parvati wanted a child badly, she is guided by Siva to observe fasting while seated in front of a lamp. While doing so, she tried to adjust the wick of the lamp, during which the lamp scintillates and a spark falls on her, out of which MADAN is born (Spark-Tamil-Sudar-Sudalai). Again the suffix MAADAN, to all those associated with the stories of Siva can be commonly seen. The story goes on that, any amount of mother’s milk of Parvati did not satiate His hunger. He sneaks out every night to the graveyards and dines on half-burnt and burning corpses. This went on for days, until his bad breadth stirred doubts in the minds of the divine couple. Once they learnt the reason behind this, He was ostracized. He wanders around and reaches the South, where He earns the place of a guardian deity which was granted to Him by a village Goddess. Again, there were many heroes who were given the title ‘MAADAN’, like Agni-Madan, Sangili-Madan, Sangili-Bhoota-Madan, Mani-Osai-Vel-Madan etc. In these cases too, a Madan who accompanies a Goddess, either stays in her temple or moves with her when she decides to relocate, is none other than Pothiraja.
There are again lot of similarities between Sudalai, Pothiraja, Karuppu and Pavadairayan which brings us to a conclusion that all these are the same deity. Firstly, their associations with goblin/ demonic entities, graveyards, animal sacrifices, ruthless behavior and weapons that are commonly found among all these deities. The most important being, the concept of ‘Vettai’ i.e., hunting, which is similar to the 13th Century witch-hunt in the west. People who dress themselves as these deities run around the village at night, trying to get rid of negative forces and famine. Although Pavadarayan, to whom we can’t turn a blind eye, the concept of hunting is no longer practiced in recent times.
Here we must observe that ‘Thala-Vaai-Madan’, a variation in the concept of ‘Madan’ is the best-preserved form of Mhasoba/ Pothuraju when given a human-like form, He is seen with a buffalo head. In recent times, the acceptance of cows and bulls as a sign of purity and supremacy, has overpowered the buffaloes. History has witnessed that buffaloes were abundantly found and domesticated, even before the Aryans introduced cows.
Thus, Thala-Vaai-Madan is associated with ‘Nandi’, chief of the ‘Bhoota-Ganas’ of Siva. Sadly, when devotees are informed about this transition, their feelings are hurt as they have made up their mind that it is a bull’s head. His wife ‘MADATHI’, is compared to ‘Durga’ just like the case of ‘Jogu-Bai’ with ‘Mhasoba’.
But again, this can be understood only when we try to omit the puranic backstories. These pre-vedic deities who happen to exist even before the Vedas were introduced (made its way-in), these deities were too simple and were bound to know rules. As we know that puranas were composed only around 6th to 10th Century, the dates are still speculative, but, we still can witness that details and connecting stories create new editions till date. This will still continue in the future. The augmentation of puranas is seen to be perpetual.
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My Kuladeivam