Śiva's Demon Devotee: Karaikkal Ammaiyar

4. The Temples and Their Festivals

4 The Temples and Their Festivals There are two towns that are closely associated with Kåraikkål Ammaiy år and that contain temples that specifically honor her. Kåraikkål (or Karikal) is the medium-sized coastal town south of Puducherry (Pondicherry) in which Kåraikkål Ammaiyår was born. Tiruvåla∫kå†u is the small village approximately 50 kilometers west of Chennai in which the temple where Ammaiyår watched Íiva perform his dance is located. These two temples each celebrate Ammaiyår in annual, but very different, festival celebrations. The Kåraikkål Temple and Festival1 In the town of Kåraikkål there is a fairly modest-sized but lovely Kåraikkål Ammaiyår temple in which she occupies her own shrine, as the goddess in a Íiva temple would.2 Her image is that of a beautiful , ornamented, married Tamil woman, holding a mango in her left hand and a scroll in her right.3 In 1972 the artist Kårai ‡. ‡. Al¥m painted C´kkiÒår’s story about Kåraikkål Ammaiyår on the outside of the walls surrounding her shrine.4 The panels begin with her birth and end with her walking up Mt. Kailåsa on her head to see Íiva and Pårvat¥. Next to her shrine is a hall at the end of which is a large painting of her marriage to ParamatattaÂ. Behind this hall is the largest part of the temple, dedicated to Íiva Comanåtar; the central image is a li‰ga. The sixty-three nåyaÂmars are lined up around the walls. But in this temple the most important form of Íiva is as the Beggar, in Tamil Picc壆avar, the form that he takes when he comes to PuÂitavati’s house, as if he is a devotee of Íiva. On the wall outside of the Comanåtar shrine is an image of Ammaiyår with Íiva as the Beggar. Íiva is also depicted emerging from the li‰ga, with Pårvat¥, as Dak∑inam¨rti, Bhairava, and Nandikeßvarar, the Lord of the ga£a 91 92 Íiva’s Demon Devotee troupe. Next to Nandikeßvarar is an image of Durgå standing on the buffalo demon. There are shrines to MurukaÂ, Lak∑m¥, and Vinåyakar (Ganesh). Across the street is the Kailåsanåtha temple that plays an integral role in Ammaiyår’s festival.5 The chapbook sold at the temple, Kåraikkål Talapurå£amum Kåraikk ålammaiyår Aru¬ Varalår -um, begins with all of Ammaiyår’s poetry, then gives the talapurå£am or story of the temple, followed by two versions of Ammaiyår’s story: a short synopsis followed by a longer narrative based on C´kkiÒår’s hagiography. The book ends with a discussion of the time period in which Ammaiyår lived and her works. Here is a synopsis of the story of how Íiva, Pårvat¥, and Vi∑ˆu came to Kåraikkål (here KåraivaÂam):6 Caunakar and the other sages were living in the hermitage. Seeing C¨tamuÂi who is an expert in reciting the purå£am, they asked him to explain how Ampå¬ was given the name Cåkampari from among the thousand names for Paråßakti. C¨tamuÂi told the story of the goddess Cåkampari. As the gods Brahmå, Vi∑ˆu, Indra and the other gods were worshiping Íiva who was sitting on Mt. Kailåsa, the great sage Nårada told Íiva that since the earth had been without rain for a long time, the astrologers predicted many creatures would die. He requested that Íiva protect the creatures. Íiva told Pårvat¥ to go down to earth and live in order to protect the sages and other beings. He told her to go to KåraivaÂam, where the Ari river and the sea join, which is a sacred place with a sacred river—bathing in the Ari river brings more blessings than bathing in the Kåvari. According to Íiva’s command, Pårvat¥ took the form of a girl and came to KåraivaÂam. A sage doing tapas in the forest had worshiped in that forest to make it appropriate for a li‰ga. In front of Pårvat¥ a li‰ga sprang up; she worshiped it and ßakti; she named the images Kailåsanåthar and Cuntaråmpå¬. Because God was...