Tamil mythology refers to the folklore and traditions that are a part of the wider Dravidian pantheon, originating from theTamil people.[1] This body ofmythology is a fusion of elements fromDravidian culture and the parentIndus Valley culture, both of which have been syncretised with mainstreamHinduism.[2]
Tamil literature, in tandem withSanskrit literature and theSthala puranas of temples, form a major source of information regarding Tamil mythology. The ancient epics ofTamilakam detail the origin of various figures inHindu scriptures, likeAgathiyar,Iravan, andPatanjali.Ancient Tamil literature contains mentions of nature-based indigenous deities likeTirumal,Murugan, andKotravai. TheTolkappiyam hailsTirumal asBrahman, Murugan as Seyyon (the red one), andKotravai as the goddess worshipped in the dry lands. By the eighth century BCE, Tamilakam became the springboard of theBhakti movement, invoking devotional poetry composed by the poet-saints called theAlvars and theNayanars,[3] propagating popular worship ofVishnu andShiva throughout the subcontinent.[4]
Murugan, also known asKandhan,Kumaran,[5]Kartikeyan, andSubramaniyan, is theHindu god ofwar and victory.[6][7][8] He is the son ofParvati andShiva, brother ofGanesha, and a god whose life has many versions in Hinduism.[9] An important deity aroundSouth Asia since ancient times, Karthikeyan is particularly popular and predominantly worshipped in South India, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia as Murugan.[6][9][7]
Murugan is an ancient god, traceable to theVedic era. Originally a god of theKurinji hillfolk ofTamilakam, this Dravidian deity of Murugan was syncretised with the Vedic god known as Subrahmanya. Archaeological evidence from 1st-century CE and earlier,[10] where he is found with Hindu godAgni (fire), suggest that he was a significant deity in early Hinduism.[6] He is found in many medieval temples all over India, such as at theEllora Caves andElephanta Caves.[11]
The iconography of Murugan varies significantly; he is typically represented as an ever-youthful man, riding or near a peacock, dressed with weapons sometimes near a rooster. Most icons show him with one head, but some show him with six heads reflecting the legend surrounding his birth.[6][9][7] He grows up quickly into a philosopher-warrior, destroysevil in the form of asurasTaraka, teaches the pursuit of ethical life and the theology ofShaiva Siddhanta.[7][8] After defeating the asura Surapadman, Murugan marries the two daughters ofVishnu,Devasena andSundaravalli. He has inspired many poet-saints, such asArunagirinathar.[8][12]
Ayyappan(Tamil:ஐயப்பன்) (also calledSastavu, orSasta) is aHindu deity predominantly worshipped in Kerala, an erstwhile region of Tamilakam. Ayyappan is believed to be an incarnation ofDharma Sasta, who is the offspring ofShiva andVishnu (asMohini, the only female avatar of Vishnu) and is generally depicted in ayogic posture, wearing a jewel around his neck, hence earning him the monikerManikandan. Ayyappan may bear a historical relationship to thetutelary deityAyyanar inTamil Nadu.[13] According to tradition, theasura princess Mahishi was enraged at the trick the gods had pulled on her brother, the asura kingMahishasura. As Mahishasura was blessed with invulnerability against all men, the gods had sent goddessDurga, to fight and kill him. Thus, Mahishi began performing a fearsome set of austerities, and pleased the creator godBrahma. She asked for the boon of invulnerability, but Brahma said it was not possible. Mahishi hence instead asked for invulnerability to all men, except by the son of Shiva and Vishnu. This was believed to be ingenious since both the aforementioned deities were males, and thus incapable of bearing offspring. He granted her the boon of ruling the universe and being invulnerable to all, but the son of Shiva and Vishnu. Since such a person did not exist, she thought that she was safe and began conquering and plundering the world.
The gods implored Shiva and Vishnu to save them from this catastrophe. Vishnu found a possible solution to the problem. When Vishnu had taken on theKurma Avatar, he also had to manifest himself asMohini, the enchantress, to save the nectar of immortality,amritam, from the demons who were not willing to share it with the gods. If he were to take on the form of Mohini again, then the female Mohini and the male Shiva could have the divine child who would combine their powers and vanquish Mahishi.
Some versions give a slightly more detailed version of the union of Shiva with Vishnu. One version tells of the asura Bhasmasura, who had so pleased Shiva with his austerities that the latter offered him a boon of anything he wished. So, Bhasmasura asked for the ability to burn to ashes anything which he placed his hand over. No sooner had Shiva granted this, than Bhasmasura ran after the god, threatening to turn him into ash.
Shiva called on Vishnu for help. He hid himself in a peepal tree as Bhasmasura followed him, and there began to search for the destroyer. Vishnu became aware of these events, and decided that he would take the female form Mohini, "the enchantress", to neutralise the asura's powers. When Bhasmasura saw Vishnu in this form, he was bewitched by her beauty. He earnestly tried to court her. Mohini instructed Bhasmasura to hold his hand over his head, and vow fidelity. With this act, Bhasmasura was reduced to ashes.
Vishnu found Shiva and explained the whole affair to him. Shiva asked if he too could see Vishnu in this female form. When Vishnu appeared thus, Shiva was overcome with passion, and the two engaged in intercourse. The two gods thus became "Harihara Murthi", that is, a composite form of Shiva and Vishnu as one god.
From this union, Dharma Sastha was born. He combined in himself the powers of both Vishnu and Shiva. Ayyappan is an incarnation of Dharma Sastha and is a visible embodiment of their essential identity. Vishnu gifted the new-born deity with a little bejeweled bell necklace, and so this god is called Manikandan.[14] He is also known as Dharma Shasthavu, and Kerala Putran.
Perumal (Tamil:பெருமாள்), alsoTirumal (Tamil:திருமால்), is theHindudeity venerated in theSri Vaishnavism sect of Hinduism.[15] Perumal is considered to be another name ofVishnu, and was traditionally the deity associated with the forests.
TamilSangam literature (200 BCE to 500 CE) mentionsMayon or the "dark one," as the supreme deity who creates, sustains, and destroys the universe and was worshipped in the mountains ofTamilakam. The verses ofParipadal describe the glory ofPerumal in the most poetic of terms.
தீயினுள் தெறல் நீ;
பூவினுள் நாற்றம் நீ;
கல்லினுள் மணியும் நீ;
சொல்லினுள் வாய்மை நீ;
அறத்தினுள் அன்பு நீ;
மறத்தினுள் மைந்து நீ;
வேதத்து மறை நீ;
பூதத்து முதலும் நீ;
வெஞ் சுடர் ஒளியும் நீ;
திங்களுள் அளியும் நீ;
அனைத்தும் நீ;
அனைத்தின் உட்பொருளும் நீ;
In fire, you are the heat;
in blossoms, the fragrance;
among the stones, you are the diamond;
in speech, truth;
among virtues, you are love;
in valour—strength;
in the Veda, you are the secret;
among elements, the primordial;
in the burning sun, the light;
in moonshine, its sweetness;
you are all,
and you are the substance and meaning of all.
Perumal (Vishnu) was the only deity who enjoyed the status ofParamporul during theSangam age. The reference toMukkol Bhagavars in Sangam literature indicates that only Vaishnavaite saints holding Tridanda existed during the age and Perumal was glorified as the supreme deity, whose "divine lotus feet can burn all our evils and grantmoksha" (maru piraparukkum maasil sevadi). During the post-Sangam period, his worship was further glorified by the alvars andVaishnavaacharyas. The veneration of Perumal is primarily performed in Tamil Nadu in sacred ceremonies and temples by theIyengar community.[17]
The story of Chidambaram begins with Shiva strolling into the Thillai Vanam (vanam meaning forest andthillai trees – botanical nameExocoeria agallocha, a species of mangrove trees – which currently grows in thePichavaram wetlands near Chidambaram). In the Thillai forests resided a group of sages or 'rishis' who believed in the supremacy of magic and that God can be controlled by rituals andmantras or magical words.[18] Shiva strolled in the forest with resplendent beauty and brilliance, assuming the form ofBhikshatana, a simple mendicant seeking alms. He was followed by Vishnu, asMohini. The sages and their wives were enchanted by the brilliance and the beauty of the handsome mendicant and his companion. On seeing their womenfolk enchanted, the rishis got enraged and invoked scores of serpents (nāgas) by performing magical rituals. Shiva lifted the serpents and donned them as ornaments on his matted locks, neck and waist. Further enraged, the sages invoked a fierce tiger, whose skins and dons were used by Shiva as a shawl around his waist and then followed by a fierce elephant, which was devoured and ripped to death by Shiva (Gajasamharamurthy).
The rishis gathered all their spiritual strength and invoked a powerful demon Muyalakan – a symbol of complete arrogance and ignorance. Shiva wore a gentle smile, stepped on the demon's back, immobilized him and performed theÁnanda Tandava (the dance of eternal bliss) and disclosed his true form. The sages surrender, realizing that Shiva was beyond magic and rituals.[18]
OnceIndra killed a asura, even though the asura did not harm anyone. This act brought a curse upon Indra that forced him to continue wandering until he was walking around looking for a way where no one would tell him which way to go will redeem him from hissin. After much wandering, Indra was freed from his suffering through the power of aShivalingam in aforest, and so he built a smalltemple at that site.
It so happened that at that time inSouth India there was aPandyanking called Malayadhwaja Pandiyan[19] ruling a small city by the nameManavur, which was quite near to this Shivalinga. He was the son ofKulashekara Pandyan. He learned about the Shivalinga and decided to build a huge temple for Shiva in the forestKadambavanam (vanam means forest). He also developed the region into a fine princely state calledMadurai.
The king was childless and sought an heir for thekingdom. Shiva granted him his prayers through anAyonija child (one born not from the womb). This child was three years old and actually the incarnation of goddessParvati the consort ofShiva. She was born with fish-shaped eyes. It was said that the extra breast would disappear when she met her future husband. She was namedMīnakshi, (meaningfish eyed) from the wordsmīn (meaning fish) andakṣi (meaning eyes). Mīnakshi also means "the one who has eyes like that of a fish". Fishes are said to feed their younger ones with their eyes, similarly goddess looks after her devotees. Just by her sight our miseries disappear.
She grew up to be a Shiva-Shakti personification. After the death of the king, she ruled the kingdom with skillful administration.
In one of her expeditions she went to theHimalayas and there, on seeing Shiva, her extra breast disappeared. Many of the gods and goddesses came to witness their marriage.
At the wedding celebrations the gods refused to have the served food unless Shiva performed a majestic dance for everybody gathered at the place. At this there was the dance ofChidambaram, thecosmic dance in front of his wife Minakshi. It epitomised and merged all life force and beauty into one whole. In the end Minakshi was merged with theshivalingam and became the representation of life and beauty.
Kannagi (Kannaki), alegendaryTamil woman, is the central character of theSouth IndianepicCilappatikaram (100–300 CE). The story relates how Kannagi took revenge on theearly PandyanKing ofMadurai, for a mistaken death penalty imposed on her husbandKovalan, by cursing the city withdisaster.
Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple was built to commemorate the martyrdom ofKannagi. It is said that sixth avatar ofVishnu, SageParasurama built this temple for the prosperity of the people. According to the old chronicles, this Bhagavathi temple was created in the heart of the town many centuries ago to serve a special purpose.[20]
Legend says that, after the creation ofKerala byParasurama, he was harassed by a demon called Daruka. To kill this evil demon,Parashurama prayed toShiva for help. As advised by Shiva, Parasurama constructed the shrine and installed the Shakti Devi as Bhagavathi. The deity in the temple, it is believed, is Parashakthi herself. According to legends, it was Bhadrakali who killed the demon Daruka. She is worshipped as goddessPattini inSri Lanka by theSinhaleseBuddhists, Kannaki Amman by theSri Lankan TamilHindus (SeeHinduism in Sri Lanka) and as Kodungallur Bhagavathy and Attukal Bhagavathy in the South Indian state of Kerala.[21]
Kannagi is also viewed as a brave woman who could demand justice directly from the King and even dared to call him "unenlightened king" in theCilappatikaram.
Mariamman is aHindugoddess of rain, predominant in the rural areas ofSouth India. Mariamman's worship originated in the traditions ofDravidian folk religion, the faith practised by the inhabitants of the south before its syncretism withVedic Hinduism. She is the mainTamil mother goddess, predominant in the rural areas ofSouth India. Mariamman is usually pictured as a beautiful young woman with a red-hued face, wearing a red dress. Sometimes, she is portrayed with many arms—representing her many powers—but in most representations she has only two or four.[22]
Mariamman is generally portrayed in the sitting or standing position, often holding atrident (trishula) in one hand and a bowl (kapala) in the other. One of her hands may display amudra, usually theabhaya mudra, to ward off fear. She may be represented with two demeanours—one displaying her pleasant nature, and the other her terrifying aspect, with fangs and a wild mane of hair.
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Other deities that fall under the scope of the Tamil pantheon include:
Spirit Possession and the Fluid Identity in Tamil Rituals
In rural Tamil Nadu, certain rituals—such as exorcism and sacrificial ceremonies—are structured around the incorporation of deities or demons into human participants through trance-induced possession. The primary aim is embodied in the enactment of dance by divine entities entering into human vessels. During such rituals, practitioners pose the question, “Who are you?” to the possessing forces, seeking revelation of their identities, intent, emotions, and knowledge. Once these entities manifest, often through the voices of their human mediums, they are recognized not as disembodied forces but as “persons”—entities with whom one can converse, negotiate, or command to remain or depart.[23]
This state of trance constructs a dynamic interplay between the cosmos and human psychology: the possessing being (cosmological force) is “enlarged”, gaining complexity and presence, whereas the human host undergoes a kind of simplification or reduction. The pinnacle of this process is the appropriation of fixed or archetypal identities and names, marking the ritual's purpose and completion.[23]
Tamil mythology, while heavily influenced by mainstreamHindu mythology, offers a number of variations in the existence of regional deities, divergences in legends, and relationships in the overall pantheon.
TheAlvars (Tamil: ஆழ்வார்,romanized:Āḻvār,lit. 'The Immersed') wereTamil poet-saints ofSouth India who espousedbhakti (devotion) to theHindu godVishnu in their songs of longing, ecstasy, and service. They are venerated inVaishnavism, which regards Vishnu as the Ultimate Reality.[28]
The devotional outpourings of the Alvars, composed during the early medieval period ofTamil history, were the catalysts behind theBhakti movement through their hymns of worship to Vishnu and his avatars. They praised theDivya Desams, the 108 divine realms of deities affiliated to Vaishnavism. The poetry of the Alvars echoesbhakti to God through love, and in the ecstasy of such devotions they sang hundreds of songs which embodied both depth of feeling and the felicity of expressions. The collection of their hymns is known as theNaalayira Divya Prabandham. Thebhakti literature that sprang from Alvars has contributed to the establishment and sustenance of a culture that deviated from theVedic religion and rooted itself in devotion as the only path for salvation. In addition, they contributed to Tamil devotional verses independent of a knowledge ofSanskrit. As a part of the legacy of the alvars, five Vaishnava philosophical traditions (sampradayas) developed over a period of time.
Siddhars (Tamil: சித்தர்) are saints inIndia, mostly affiliated with the Shaiva denomination inTamil Nadu, who professed and practised an unorthodox type ofSadhana, or spiritual practice, to attain liberation. Yogic powers referred to asSiddhis are believed to be acquired by constant practice of certain yogic disciplines. Those who acquire these Siddhis are calledSiddhas.[29] These Siddhars can be compared tomystics of the western civilization. Siddhars are people who are believed to control and transcend the barriers of time and space by meditation (yoga), after the use of substances calledrasayanas that transform the body to make it potentially deathless, and a particular breathing-practice, a type ofPranayama. Through their practices, they are believed to have reached stages of insight which enabled them to tune into the powers hidden in various material substances and practices, useful for the suffering and ignorant mankind. Typically, Siddhars were saints, doctors, alchemists, and mystics all at once. They wrote their findings in the form ofpoems inTamil language, on palm leaves that are collected and stored in what are known today as thepalm leaf manuscript, today still owned by private families in Tamil Nadu and handed down through the generations, as well as public institutions such inuniversities all over the world (India, Germany, Great Britain, U.S.).[30]
In this way, Siddhars developed, among other branches of a vast knowledge-system, what is now known asSiddha medicine, practised mainly in Tamil Nadu as traditional nativemedicine. A rustic form of healing that is similar toSiddha medicine has since been practised by experienced elderly in the villages of Tamil Nadu. (This has been misunderstood asPaatti Vaitthiyam, Naattu marunthu andMooligai marutthuvam. While paati vaitthiyam or naatu marunthu is traditional Tamil medicine and mooligai marutthuvam is ayurvedic medicine.) They are also founders ofVarmam – a martial art forself-defence and medical treatment at the same time.Varmam are specific points located in the human body which when pressed in different ways can give various results, such as disabling an attacker in self-defence, or balancing a physical condition as an easy first-aid medical treatment.
Tamil Siddhars were the first to develop pulse-reading ("naadi paarththal" in Tamil) to identify the origin of diseases. This method was later copied and used in ayurvedha.[31]
Siddhars have also written many religious poems. It is believed that most of them have lived for ages, in a mystic mountain called Sathuragiri, near Thanipparai village in Tamil Nadu.
One of the best-known Siddhars wasAgastya, who is believed to be the founding father of Siddha culture.
Abithana Chintamani states Siddhars are either of the 9 or 18 persons enlisted, but sageAgastya states that there are many who precede these and follow 9 or 18 persons. Many of the great Siddhars are regarded to have powers magical and spiritual.
There are 18 Siddhars in the Tamil Siddha tradition:
