Shiva Shakti - Part 9

Who is Goddess Mariamman ? Is she Goddess Durga ?

Finally I got my favorite question and as the question is asked about my Kuldevi, I will answer it. Read it till end carefully, you will finally going to know something very intresting about her.

Things to be noted here :-

1. I am not from Tamil Nadu.

2. I have great influence of Sanskrit on myself.

3. Believing me or not depends on you .

4. I am a true devotee of Her.

Ok so now I will answer the question who is Mariamman.

Although you can visit Wikipedia and see about her but reading of others views acc. to their cultural beliefs is a good thing.

Mariamma who is also known by different names like Mari Aatha, Mari Aai, Mari Maa, Mari Mata, Mari Devi, etc. all meaning the same as divine Mother Mari. Now many of Hindi friends would think what does this word Mari means??? It has very different meaning in Hindi. So here I am giving you a brief on her name which is taken from Sanskrit :-

Mari comes from a Sanskrit word Maru. Maru literally means Hotness. It also used as for diseases which causes fevers and increases the body temperature and mainly pox diseases. Maru also is used as Marusthali also means desert or a land which is barren and the climatic temperature of that region is too high.

Now the word Mari which came from this word is actually it's opposite. The word means one who gives relief from Maru is Mari. That's how Mari Maa got her name. Even in Tamil Mari means Rain. Mari word might be having a Tamil origin too.

Mariamma is the goddess of Rain, diseases and fertility. She cures diseases and gives rain to her bhaktas.

Mariamma is closely associated with Maa Parvati, Maa MahaKaali, Maa Durga and Maa Sheetla as she is considered as an incarnation of Maa Parvati but she is so much powerful that she performs all the divine functions of all these devis. That's why she is very less time called as Mariamma instead we call her generally as Mahakaali Mariamma, Maha Sheetla Mariamma, Adi Para Shakti Parvati, Jagadamba, etc. Generally she is a roop of Maha Kaali Maa and as per Shaiva beliefs Maha Kaali is a vikraal roop of Parvati Maa. So we associate her as Parvati Maa. I don't know about Shaktas that how do they worship her or not. But yes she is mostly worshipped by the Shaivas only.

Mari Maa is considered as the sister of Lord Maha Vishnu and wife of Lord Shiva as she is none another but Parvati Maa. Her vahana is Lion.

There are different belief system in India so in different parts of India mainly Tamil Nadu worships her in different forms. But yes She is widely worshipped in Tamil Nadu and and the regions near to the Tamil Nadu.

She is generally a Kuldevi of many castes including Kshatriya clans in Eastern and in Southern India. She is basically a village and family deity.

She is worshipped in a spear shaped shila form. In Purvanchal (Southeast Uttar Pradesh) we mostly worship her in the shila form but in Southern India she is also worshipped in Murti form. We too have her idols. Generally snakes do revolve around in the areas where her temple is constructed. Her temple should contain a Neem tree which is very holy for the Hindus. As Neem has high medical properties and it is very important in curing many disease by Ayurvedic traditions.

She generally sits in Abhaya Mudra posture. She has generally four hands. One hand she had a Damru, other hand she have Trishul, another hand she have a Sword and in last fourth hand she has a Kapaal filled with blood and generally burning blood. The blood is said to be of Raktabheeja who was killed by Maa Mahakaali and Maa Mari is none another than Mahakaali. We generally get kumkum in her prasadam. Women use this as Sindoor for the protection of their Suhaag (husband) and men use it as tilak.

Mari Maa is worshipped in the same way how Maa Kaali is worshipped and Maa Sheetla is worshipped. People use to give bali (sacrifice) in front of her like how is given to Maa Kaali. It's on their choice wether they are giving an animal sacrifice or a sacrifice of Lemon, Coconut or even of their own wills. However I prefer Coconut sacrifice and will sacrifice to be the most precious and I think my Amma also wants the same.

Numerous festivals are held for her like in Purvanchal we use to celebrate Navratri for her and I don't remember but on some eves we use to worship her only by offering kumkum, Coconut, Chunri, Sweets (basically home made), vibhuti and prepare Khichadi (almost similar to a dish called Pongal in South India) which is made by using rice, green gram and sometimes we also pour Gooda (Jaggery) into it. It's said that it's favorite food of Mahadev and Mari Maa. Remember never cook the Khichadi offered to deities on Gas chulha. Always use Fire woods and cook it into the pots rather than in steel vessels. Then should be served in the Leaf Plates (basically Banana leaf).

In Tami Nadu some festivals are there which are dedicated to her only like that of Pangui festival.

There is much more to tell about her but it's not possible for me to do so. I am a daasa of them and I am not that capable of writing their Gunas in words.