28.12.2011
INDIA LEGENDS FLOKLORE ART AND CULTURE: GRAMA DEVATA: WORSHIP WITH ANIMAL SACRIFICE in THE VILLAGE GODS OF SOUTH INDIA 1921
THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF INDIA
THE VILLAGE GODS OF SOUTH INDIA
by
HENRY WHITEHEAD
1921
****
Antedating the Aryan invasion, and predating their introduction of Hinduism with its complex pantheon of deities
in the second millemium B.C., the typical and unique workship of the VILLAGE GODS is probably the most ancient
form of Indian indigenous religious beliefs and costume system, praticated by the old and originary inhabitants
of the place, the Dravidians.
These sistem of beliefs is based on a conception in which the world is peopled by a great moltitude of good and
bad spirits that are the cause of all the diseases and disasters.
In this kind of ancient and primitive religion the object of the people was to propitiate these innumerable legions
of spirits, each village was under the protection of one guardian deity, at once hero,protector, councilor.
The village deities were ALMOST UNIVERSALLY WORSHIPPED WITH ANIMAL SACRIFICIES, Buffaloes, sheep,
goats, pigs, and fowls are freely offered to them, sometimes in thousands.
The buffalo-sacrifice has special features of its own, and seems to retain TRACES OF A PRIMITIVE FORM OF WORSHIP , which may
possibly have originated in TOTEMISM.
EVERY VILLAGE in South India is believed by the people TO BE SURROUNDED BY EVIL SPIRITS, who are always on the watch to
inflict diseases and misfortunes of all kinds on the unhappy villagers.
So the poor people turn for PROTECTION TO THE GUARDIAN DEITIES OF THEIR VILLAGE, whose function it is TO WARD OFF THESE
EVIL SPIRITS AND PROTECT THE VILLAGE FROM EPIDEMICS OF CHOLERA, SMALL POX, OR FEVER , from cattle disease, failure of
crops, childlessness, fires, and all the manifold ills that flesh is heir to in an Indian village.
THE SOLE OBJECT , then, OF THE WORSHIP OF THESE VILLAGE DEITIES IS TO PROPITIATE THEM AND TO AVERT THEIR WRATH.
In the Telugu country the potters and the washermen, who are Sudras of low caste, often officiate as priests, and
have an important part, especially in the buffalo sacrifices, that is taken by the Malas and Madigas.
A Madiga nearly always kills the buffalo and performs the unpleasant ceremonies connected with the sprinkling of the
blood, and there are certain families among the Malas, called Asadis, who are the nearest approach to a priestly caste
in connexion with the village deities.
They have the hereditary right to assist at the sacrifices, to chant the praises of the goddess while the sacrifices are
being offered, and to perform certain ceremonies.
But in the more primitive villages, where, it may be presumed, primitive customs prevail, it is remarkable how great
a variety of people take an official part in the worship : the potter, the carpenter, the toddy-drawer, the
washerman, Malas and Madigas, and even the Brahman Karnam or village accountant, have all their parts to play.
We will take a village in the Telugu country, the village deity, in this particular village, is called Peddamma,
THE GREAT MOTHER
he epidemic is a sign that SHE IS ANGRY AND REQUIRES TO BE PROPITIATED.
So a collection is made for the expenses of a festival, or a rich man offers to pay all expenses, and a propitious day is
selected, which in this village may be any day except Sunday or Thursday.
Then the potter of the village is instructed to make a CLAY IMAGE OF THE GREAT MOTHER, and the carpenter to make a small
wooden CART, and a BUFFALO is chosen as the chief victim for the SACRIFICE.
When the appointed day arrives, the buffalo is sprinkled all over with yellow turmeric while garlands of margosa leaves are
hung round its neck and tied to its horns.
At about two p.m. it is conducted round the village in procession to the sound of music and the beating of tom-toms.
The two sections of the Outcastes, the Malas and the Madigas, take the leading Part in the sacrifice, and conduct the buffalo
from house to house.
One Madiga goes on ahead, with a tom tom, to announce that "the buffalo devoted to the goddess is coming."
The people then come out from their houses, bow down to worship the buffalo, and pour water over his feet, and also give
some food to the Malas and Madigas, who form the procession.
By about eight p.m. this ceremony is finished, and the buffalo is brought to an open spot in the village and tied up near a
small canopy of cloths supported on bamboo poles,which has been set up for the reception of the goddess.
All the villagers then assemble at the same place, and at about ten p.m. they go in procession, with music and tom toms and
torches, to the house of the potter, where the clay image is ready prepared.
On arriving at his house, they pour about two and a half measures of rice on the ground and put the image on the top of it,
adorned with a new cloth and jewels.
All who are present then worship the image, and a ram is killed, its head being cut off with a large chopper, and the blood
sprinkled on the top of the image, as a kind of consecration.
The potter then takes up the idol and carries it out of the house for a little distance, and gives it to a washerman, who
carries it to the place where the canopy has been set up to receive it.
During the procession the people flourish sticks and swords and spears to keep off the evil spirits, and, for the same
purpose, cut limes in half and throw them up in the air.
The idea is that the greedy demons will clutch at the golden limes and carry them off, and so be diverted from any attack
on the man who carries the image.
When the idol has been duly deposited under the canopy, another procession is made to the house of the toddy-drawer.
He is the man who climbs the palm trees and draws off the juice which is made into toddy.
At his house some rice is cooked, and a pot of toddy and a bottle of arrack are produced and duly smeared with yellow
turmeric and a red paste, constantly used in religious
worship among the Hindus and called kimkuma^
The cooked rice is put in front of the pot of toddy and bottle of arrack, a ram is killed in sacrifice, and then the
toddy-drawer worships the pot and the bottle.
The village officials pay him his fee, three-eighths of a measure of rice, three-eighths of a measure of cholam 2 and four
annas, and then he carries the pot and bottle in proces sion, and places them under the canopy near the image of
Peddamma.
Then comes yet another procession.
The people go off to the house of the chief official, the Reddy, and bring from it some cooked rice in a large
earthenware pot, some sweet cakes, and a lamb.
A large quantity of margosa leaves are spread on the ground in front of the image, the rice from the Reddy s house is
placed upon them in a heap, and a large heap of rice, from one hundred to three hundred measures, according to the amount
of the subscriptions, is poured in a heap a little farther away.
All these elaborate proceedings form only the preparations for the great sacrifice, which is now about to begin.
The lamb is first worshipped and then sacrificed by having its throat cut and its head cut off.
A ram is next brought and stood over the first large heap of rice, and is there cut in two, through the back, with a heavy
chopper, by one of the village washermen.
The blood pours out over the rice and soaks it through.
One half of the ram is then taken up and carried to a spot a few yards off, where a body of Asadis are standing ready to
begin their part in the ceremonies.
The other half of the ram is left lying on the rice. The Asadis then begin to sing a long chant in honour of the deity.
Meanwhile, the chief sacrifice is made.
The buffalo is brought forward, and the Madigas kill it by cutting its throat (in some villages its head is cut off).
Some water is first poured over the blood, and then the pool of blood and water is covered up carefully with earth, lest
any outsider from another village should come and steal it.
The idea is that if any man from another village should take away and carry home even a small part of the blood, that
village would get the benefit of the sacrifice.
The head of the buffalo is then cut off and placed before the image, with a layer of fat from its entrails smeared over
the fore head and face, so as to cover entirely the eyes and nose.
The right foreleg is cut off and placed crosswise in the mouth, some boiled rice is placed upon the fat on the
forehead, and on it an earthenware lamp, which is kept alight during the whole of the festival.
Why the right foreleg should be cut off and placed in the mouth, and what the meaning of it is, I have never been able to
discover nor can I conjecture. When I have asked the villagers, they only reply, "It is the custom."
But I have found the custom prevailing in all parts of South India, among Tamils, Telugus, and Canarese alike, and I
have been informed that exactly the same custom prevails in the Southern Maratha country.
It seems to be a very ancient part of the ritual of sacrifice prevailing in South India.
Some of the rice from the heap, over which the ram was sacrificed and its blood poured out, is taken and put
in a flat basket, and some of the entrails of the buffalo are mixed with it.
The intestines of the lamb, which was first killed, are put over the neck of a Mala, and its liver is placed in his
mouth, while another Mala takes the basket of rice soaked in blood and mixed with the entrails of the buffalo.
A procession is then formed with these two weird figures in the middle.
The man with the liver in his mouth is worked up into a state of frantic excitement and is supposed to be inspired by
the goddess.
He has to be held by men on either side of him, or kept fast with ropes, to prevent his rushing away ; and all round him
are the ryots, the small farmers, and the Malas, flourishing clubs and swords,and throwing limes into the air, to drive
away the evil spirits.
As the procession moves through the village, the people shout out " Food ! Food ! " and the man who carries the basket
sprinkles the rice soaked in blood over the houses to protect them from evil spirits.
As he walks along, he shouts out, at intervals, that he sees the evil spirits, and falls down in a faint.
Then lambs have to be sacrificed on the spot and limes thrown into the air and cocoanuts broken, to drive away the demons
and bring the man to his senses.
And so the procession moves through the village, amid frantic excitement, till, as the day dawns, they return to the canopy,
where the great mother is peacefully reposing.
At about ten a.m. a fresh round of ceremonies begins.
Some meat is cut from the carcass of the buffalo and cooked with some cholam, and then given to five little Mala boys,
siddhalu, the innocents, as they are called.
They are all covered over with a large cloth, and eat the food entirely concealed from view, probably to prevent the evil
spirits from seeing them, or the evil eye from striking them.
And then some more food is served to the Asadis, who have been for many hours, during the ceremonies of the night,
chanting the praises of the goddess.
After this the villagers bring their offerings.
The Brahmans, who may not kill animals, bring rice and cocoanuts, and other castes bring lambs, goats, sheep, fowls, and
buffaloes, which are all killed by the washermen, by cutting their throats, except the buffaloes, which are always killed
by the Madigas, the lowest class of Outcastes.
The heads are all cut off and presented to the goddess.
This lasts till about three p.m., when the people go off to the house of the village carpenter, who has got ready a small
wooden cart.
On their arrival some cooked rice is offered to the cart, and a lamb sacrificed before it, and a new cloth and eight
annas are given to the carpenter as his fee.
The cart is then dragged by the washermen, to the sound of horns and tom-toms, to the place of sacrifice.
The heads and carcasses of the animals already sacrificed are first removed by the Malas and Madigas, except the head of
the buffalo first offered, which remains in its place till all the ceremonies are finished, when the shrine is
removed.
At about seven p.m. another series of ceremonies begins.
First a lamb is sacrificed before the goddess, and its blood mixed with some cooked rice, and at the same time a pig is
buried up to the neck in a pit at the entrance of the village, with its head projecting above the earth.
The villagers go in procession to the spot, while one of the Madigas carries the rice, soaked in the blood of the lamb, in
a basket.
All the cattle of the village are then brought to the place and driven over the head of the unhappy pig, 1 which is, of
course, trampled to death ; and, as they pass over the pig, the blood and rice are sprinkled upon them to preserve them
from disease.
Then, after this, follows the final ceremony.
The image of the goddess is taken from the canopy by the washerman, and a Madiga takes the head of the buffalo with its
foreleg in the mouth, the forehead and nostrils all smeared over with fat, and the earthen lamp still lighted on the top.
They then all go in procession to the boundary of the village, first the men carrying the buffalo s head, next the washerman
with the image, and last the small wooden cart.
When the procession arrives at the extreme limit of the village lands, they go on, for about a furlong, into the lands of
the neigh bouring village.
There the Asadis first chant the praises of the goddess, then some turmeric is distributed to all the people, and finally
the image is divested of all its ornaments and solemnly placed upon the ground and left there.
The light on the head of the buffalo is extinguished, and the head itself carried off by the Madiga, who takes it for a
feast to his own house.
The object of transporting the goddess to the lands of the next village is to transfer to that village the wrath of the
deity, a precaution which does not show much faith in the temper of the goddess, nor much charity towards their neighbours !
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12:14
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18.12.2011
SOUTH-INDIAN IMAGES OF GODS AND GODDESSES H. KRISHNA SASTRI, B.A., RAO SAHEB MADRAS GOVERNMENT PRESS 1916
SOUTH-INDIAN IMAGES OF GODS AND GODDESSES
BY
H. KRISHNA SASTRI, B.A., RAO SAHEB
Assistant Archeealogical Superintendent for Epigraphy,
Southern Circle.
Published under the authority of the Government of Madras
MADRAS GOVERNMENT PRESS
1916
INDEX OF THE CHAPTERS AND A RESUME OF THE SUBJECTS IN THE ILLUSTRATIONS
CHAPTER I.
Temples and images, the subject of Agamas and Silpa-Sastras origin of
stone temples in the Pallava period. Their development
in the Chola period . Signs to distinguish a Saiva temple from a
Vaishnava temple ; ritual generally followed in temples ; annual
festivals. Ritual in temples of village-deities
CHAPTER II.
BRAHMA
Not worshipped as the chief deity in a temple ; his images and general
description Various forms
CHAPTER III
VISHNU
His general description , Incarnations Boar incarnation and
the reverence paid to it by the early South-Indian kings . Manlion
incarnation and its varieties . Dwarf incarnation
Rama incarnation . Krishna incarnation and varieties
Buddha and Kalki incarnations. Anantasayin, Padmanabha or
Ranganatha. Jalasayana, Vaikuntha-Nartyana, Lakshml-
Narayana, Garuda-Narayana and Yogesvara- Vishnu ( The 24
general forms of Vishnu ; Panduranga, Hayagriva and Venkatesa
Pradyumna or Manmatha, Vishvaksena and Garuda
Hanuman, Sudarsana, Saligraw a stones
CHAPTER IV
SIVA
His temples and their non-sectarian nature liuga, symbol of Siva ;
its significance, description and varieties . Subsidiary images
in a Siva temple ; importance attached to his sportive forms
The general form Rudramurti ; its description and varieties ; Panchadehamurti
and Maha-Sadasiva; .several dancing postures
The Chidambaram temple ; its history
Dakshinamurti and his various forms, Lingodbhava
Bhikshatana and Mohin!, Kalyanasundaramurti
Somaskanda and allied forms
Vrisharudha, Chandrasekharamurti, Ardhanari
Harihara, Gajahamurti, Gangadhara
Kalaharamurti , Nilakantha , Tripurantakamurti
Kiratarjunamurti, Chandesanugrahamurti
Sarabhamurti, Pasupatamurti, Rakshoghnamurti, Aghoramurti,
Bhairava and his various forms, Mahakala and Kalagni-
Rudra, Virabhadra and his various forms, Kshetrapala
Chandesa, Nandisa, Ehringisa and Jvaradeva
Ganapati and his various forms ; his popularity Skanda and
his different forms ; the antiquity of his worship
CHAPTER V
SAKTI-GODDESSES
Their significance. Their division into three classes and their
worship on chakras, yuntras and plthas. Sarasvati and her
different forms. Lakshmi and her different forms
The eight energies of Vishnu personified . General description
of Gauri or Parvati . The Saptamatrikas . Sakti goddesses
holding Vaishnavite symbols : Chamnnda, Durga, Mahishasuramardini
and Maha-Lakshmi, Kalaratrl, Tvarita, Tripura-
Bhairavi, VajraprastarinI, Sura, Surapriya, SrividyadevI, Pranasakti,
SvasthavesinI, Satruvidhvamsini, Ugra-Tara, Dhumravati, Sulini,
Pratyangira, Sltaladevi, Trikantakldevi, Bhutamata and SivadutI
Jyeshtha-Lakshmi, Bala-Tripurasundari, Saubhagyabhuvanesvari,
Annapurna, Gayatri, Savitrl and Sarasvati, Tulaja-
Bhavani, Rajaniatangi, Laghusyamala, Varuni, Kurukulla and
Vindhyavasini, Lalita, Tripurasundari and Rajarajesvari;
their worship on Bala-yantra vxd. Sri-chakra
CHAPTER VI
VILLAGE DEITIES
Their origin traceable to Tantrik goddesses ; names of a few of them
Their worship and worshippers, Ceremonies peculiar
to temples of village deities ; Draupadi temples a.ndaragam,
Sati-worship and the fire-walking ceremony, Village gods :
Aiyanar and Karuppannasami, Hero-worship; devil-dances
CHAPTER VI
VILLAGE DEITIES
Their origin traceable to Tantrik goddesses ; names of a few of them
Their worship and worshippers. Ceremonies peculiar
to temples of village deities ; Draupadi temples a.ndaragam
Sati-worship and the fire-walking ceremony . Village gods :
Aiyanar and Karuppannasami , Hero-worship; devil-dances
CHAPTER VII
MISCELLANEOUS DEITIES
The nine Planets, The Sun ; his description and the Siifya-yantra
The Moon and the other Planets, The Dikpalakas :
Indra, Agni, Yama, Nairrita, Varuna, Vayu and Kubera. The
Nagas. The demi-gods : Yakshas, Vidyadharas, etc., and
Dvarapalas. Saints and sages. The three religious
reformers ; Saiva and Vaishnava saints, Jaina images
Pedestals, postures, symbols, weapons and jewellery of
images
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§§
§
LIST OF THE PLACE TEMPLES SHRINES GODS AND GODDESSES
PRESENT IN THE ILLUSTRATIONS
The Tanjore temple.
Gopura, Narasimha temple,Back view of central shrine, Siva temple,
Gangaikondasolapuram, Haridranadi tank ;Processional images (metal) ; Madura
Lamp patterns and /w/Vf-utensils ; Uttattur
Brahma; Seven Pagodas, Kumbakonam, Tiruvadi, Brahma and Sarasvati ; Kandiyur
Brahma on swan vehicle ; Chidambaram
Vishnu (Ashtabhuja) ; Conjeeveram
Vishnu; Bellary, Paramesvaramangalam
Vishnu and his consorts ; Ariyambakkam
Boar incarnation of Vishnu ; Seven Pagodas
Narasimha bursting forth from the pillar; Ahobalam
Ugra-Narasimha
Madras Museum, Yoga-Narasimha ; Tir,upati Hill
Trivikrama ; Seven Pagodas
Kumbakonam, Vamana ; Namakkal, Rama and group (metal) ; Ramesvaram
Krishna tied to a mortar ; Penukonda
Butter-dance of Bala-Krishna (metal) ; Madras Museum
26. Serpent-dance of Kaliya-Krishna (metal)
Venu-Gopala, Madana-Gopala ;Little Conjeeveram, Govardhana-Krishna ; Seven Pagodas
Krishna on the punnai-tieQ (wood) ; Kumbakonam
Parthasarathi teaching Bhagavad-Gitdto Arjuna ; Pushpagiri
Anantasayin ; Seven Pagodas, Vaikuntha-Narayana ; Namakkal
Lakshmi-Narayana ; Namakkal, Garuda-Narayana; Chidambaram
Garuda-Narayana and Gajendramoksha ; Kumbakonam
Yogesvara-Vishnu ; Huvinahadagalli
Kumbakonam, Panduranga; Tirupati, Ahobalam
Rati-Manmatha ; Chidambaram
Garuda ; Tanjore, Sudarsana ; Tirupati
Dadikkombu, Sahasra-linga ; Tiruvottiyur
Panchamukha-linga ; Tiruvanaikkaval
Nataraja (metal) ; Panchanadakkulam
Ramesvaram, Urdhva-tandava ; Tiruppanandal
Patanjali; Chidambaram
Vyaghrapada, Kalika-tandava (metal) ; Nallur
Dakshinamurti ; Avur
Vlnadhara-Dakshinamurti ; Chidambaram
Yoga-Dakshinamurti ; Conjeeveram
Dakshinamurti ; Tiruvengavasal
Lingodbhava ; Tanjore, Ekapada-Trimurti ; Tiruvottiyur
Tiruvanaikkaval, Mohini (metal) ; Valuvur
Bhikshatanamurti (metal), Kankalamurti (metal); Tenkasi
Kankalamurti ; Dharasuram, Kalyana-Sundara ; Madura
Kalyana-Sundara and Svayamvara ; Chidambaram
Somaskanda (metal) ; Sivankudal, Somaskanda ; Seven Pagodas
Umasahita, Vrishavahana ; Chidambaram, (metal) ; Vedaranyam
Chandrasekhara (metal) , Tiruvottiyur
Chandrasekhara ; Tanjore
Chandrasekhara (Alinganamurti) ; Bagali
Ardhanari ; Madura, Kumbakonam, Ardhanari ; Tanjore,
Tiruchchengodu, , Dharasuram, Tiruvadi, Sankaranarayana ; Namakkal
Gajahamurti ; Dharasuram, , Tirutturaippundi
Gangadhara ; Gangaikondasolapuram, (metal) ; Vaidlsvarankoyil
Gangadhara ; Tanjore
Trichinopoly, , Kalaharamurti ; Pattisvaram,
Chandragiri, Tripurantakamurti ; Chidambaram, Kiratarjunamurti ; Pushpagiri, Chidambaram
Chandesanugrahamurti ; Gangaikondasolapuram
Sarabhamurti ; Dharasuram, , Pasupatamurti . Chidambaram
Aghoramurti ; Pattisvaram, , Bhairava
Kala-Bhairava ; Durgi
Kalagni-Rudra, Virabhadra throwing the head of Daksha into the fire
Tanjore, Virabhadra; Mudikondam, Kshetrapala ; Tiruvarangulam
Chandesa ; Tiruvottiyur, Nandisa and his consort (metal) ; Valuvur
Bhringi ; Srisailam, Jvaradeva ; Bhavani, Ganapati standing ; Lepakshi
Pattisvaram, Siyamangalam, Gangaikondasolapuram
Maha-Ganapati ; Madura, Heramba-Ganapati (metal) ;
Skanda ; Tiruvottiyur ; Madura , Skanda and his consorts ; Samayapuram
Chidambaram, Sarasvati ; Bagali Samilnya-Lakshmi ; Seven Pagodas
Parvati; Bolumampatti, Paramesvaramangalam, Pattisvaram
The Seven Mothers ; Tanjore ,Chamunda (Mahakali) ; Tiruchchengodu
Durga ; Seven Pagodas ,Srimushnam
Dharasuram, Durga-Lakshml Tirumalisai, Mahishasuramardini ; Gangaikondasolapuram
Dharasuram, Durgi, Durga-Mahishasuramardim ; Seven-Pagodas
Pratyangira ; Tiruchchengodu , Tiruppalatturai
Jyeshtha ; Tiruvellavayil, Saubhagyabhuvanesvan ; Dharasuram
Rajarajesvarl ; Ramesvaram, Mutyalamma ; Avani
Group of images in the Draupadi-amman temple Kumbakonam
Aiyanar (metal) ; Tiruppalatturai , Valuvur
Ramesvaram, Surya ; Kumbakonam , Chidambaram
Rahu and Ketu ; Chidambaram Indra, Agni, Yama, Nairrita
Varuna, Vayu, Kubera, Ahobalam, Lepakshi, Adisesha ; Chidambaram, Kinnari ; Ramesvaram
Dvarapala ; Tiruvottiyur, Dharasuram , Narada ; Chidambaram
Gaulisvara (Gaudapada ?) and Sankaracharya ; Tiruvottiyur
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12:18
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10.06.2011
BHUTA MASQUES & OBJETS RITUELS DES ESPRITS Karnataka, Inde du Sud ESPACE DURAND DESSERT PARIS
BHUTA MASQUES & OBJETS RITUELS DES ESPRITS
Karnataka, Inde du Sud
ESPACE DURAND DESSERT
28 Rue de Lappe 75011 Paris
du 15 Juin au 31 Octobre 2011
Mardi au Dimanche de 11 à 18h30
www.espacelmdd.com 01 43386415
§§§
THE VILLAGE GODS OF SOUTH INDIA
SEE MORE ON
http://ethnoflorence.skynetblogs.be/archive/2008/12/02/th...
§§§
AYANAR URPETTI SHRINE PHOTO COURTESY OF THE INDIAN ARTIST
ANTRA SINHA EARTH ART
http://earthwithantra.blogspot.com/2010/12/urpetti.html
.
22:43
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dans INDIAN and HIMALAYAN TRIBAL ARTS EXHIBITIONS, VILLAGE GODS OF SOUTH INDIA |
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DEFINITIONS STRUCTURALE D'UN DIEU POPULAIRE TAMOUL AYANAR, LE MAITRE LOUIS DUMONT
DEFINITIONS STRUCTURALE D'UN DIEU POPULAIRE TAMOUL AYANAR, LE MAITRE LOUIS DUMONT
VILLAGE GODS BIBLIOGRAPHY
DEFINITIONS STRUCTURALE D'UN DIEU POPULAIRE TAMOUL AYANAR,
LE MAITRE
par
LOUIS DUMONT
Estrait du Jurnal Asiatique
(Année 1953)
PARIS
IMPRIMERIE NATIONALE
LIBRAIRE ORIENTALISTE PAUL GEUTHNER
Rue Vavin, N 12, Paris (VI)
MDCCCCLIII
§§§
THE VILLAGE GODS OF SOUTH INDIA SEE MORE ON
http://ethnoflorence.skynetblogs.be/archive/2008/12/02/th...
§§§
AYANAR URPETTI SHRINE PHOTO COURTESY OF THE INDIAN ARTIST
ANTRA SINHA EARTH ART
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE INDIAN ARTIST
ANTRA SINHA EARTH ART
http://earthwithantra.blogspot.com/2010/12/urpetti.html
11:18
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15.08.2010
NAGA CULT IN THE RURAL AREAS OF TAMIL NADU - THE VILLAGE GODS OF SOUTH INDIA - INDIA FOLK ART A LOST WORLD
INDIAN FOLK ART A LOST WORLD
n.104 in the Stella Kramrisch's catalogue 'Unknown India Ritual Art in Tribe and Village' (1968 Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art).
From Indian Earth, 4000 years of terracotta Art, Brooklyn Museum's exhibition with a section devoted to the Village gods of South India in which were showed photographs and terracotta objects from Harry Holtzman archive and collection.
§§§
THE GREAT BLACK ONE
Nepal 18th century, Wood
FEARSOME GODDESS
The other two medallions depict goddesses preforming various movements and hand gesture.
20:44
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11.08.2010
THE VILLAGE GODS OF SOUTH INDIA TAMIL NADU AIYANAR TERRACOTTA HORSES INDIAN FOLK ART A LOST WORLD COMING SOON
THE VILLAGE GODS OF SOUTH INDIA
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02.12.2008
The Village Gods of South India. Lord Ayanaar Shrines in Tamil Nadu.Grama Devatas. Terracotta, terracotta Arts and crafts, terracotta Art in Southern india . HARRY HOLTZMAN COLLECTION.
In a letter of November 6 1966, the late Art historian of South Asian art Ms Stella Kramrisch (1896 Nikolsburg (now Mikulov), Czech Republic - 1993 Philadelphia, PA) , at that time Curator of Indian Art of the Philadelphia Museum of Art asked and then obtained some photographs from the late American Artists Mr Harry Holtzman ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Holtzman (1912 NYC - 1987 Lyme Ct) for her scheduled exhibition on traditionally Indian village Art "Unknown India Ritual Art in Tribe and Village"(Philadelphia Museum of Art 1968). (Source: Harry Holtzman paper, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven CT USA).
Horses in a village sanctuary of Mariamman Polanalur (Namakkal), Harry Holtzman (New York 1912 - Lyme Ct 1987), edited as Cover of the Catalogue "Unknown India Ritual Art in Tribe and Village". Courtesy Madalena Holtzman.
Village sanctuary of Ayanar under Banyan tree on a peninsula; Velankulattur (Paramagudi) this photo of Harry Holtzman was edited in the inside cover of the Unknown India Catalogue. Courtesy Madalena Holtzman.
Ms Stella Kramrisch used this show, her major exhibitions in the United States (1968) to break and explore new and unknown ground, introducing the art world to the Indian folk and tribal artistic traditions she valued as much as India's courtly cultures, thinking that both aristocratic and common art objects were necessary to appreciate a culture's artistic accomplishment.
Still today the main emphasis of indian students is in the direction of literate culture, centered on court and temple. In my opinion in the living experiences of a great part of South Indian population this higher culture has played a secondary role because the cultivators of the soil, for example, have praticed a really different religion, which has few links with the gods and goddesses worshipped in the temple. From an immemorial time the cults of the soil is linked with unseen spirits which haunt groves, roks and ponds. To be clear, it's not a question of general disbeliving in the deities of the higher religion ... of course, sincretism is maybe the best definitin, the higher gods however are followed, but when trouble comes, it's not to these higher gods that the people turn, they turn to the spirit which share their terrestrial environment. The religion of India looks like to involve preminently , using the words of John Irwin "... the notion of an immediate, haunting presence of the supernatural, which does not admit of any straight opposition of good and evil: the spirits can be either good or evil according to the treatment they receive. Hence, worship is not directed with a view to improve prospects of life hereafter; rather it's directed to gain immediate temporal advantage, or to avert the malignity of the spirits..." (the late Mr John Irwin, keeper of Oriental Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and foremost authority on Indian Art, in the mid 70' wrote this texte for the Harry Holtzman photographs exhibition "Village Gods of South India", organized by the Neuberger Museum on the Purchase campus of the State University of New York. )
Detail of inside front cover.
Village sanctuary of Ayanar; Chettampatti (Tiruchirapalli). This photo was edited in the second plate of the catalogue. Courtesy Madalena Holtzman.
Village shrine of Bhagavati Amman; Ganapathipalayan (Kodamudi). Courtesy Madalena Holtzman.
Follow an interesting writing Mr Harry Holtzman wrote in the mid 70' for the exhibition "Village Gods of South India" organized by the Neuberger Museum on the Purchase campus of the State University of New York.
"I encountered the village gods of South India during my first trip there in the winter of 1957-1958. I was immediately astonished , delighted, amazed, perplexed. Altough I have never had pretense as an Indologist, at that time I thought had a reasonably complete acquaintance with the rich varieties of India's marvels of religious sculptural form and monumental architecture, gleaned from a lifetime of art books and museums..."
Offering of votaries; village shrine of Mariamman; Tirripuyanam (Madura). Courtesy Madalena Holtzman.
"...The reason for my delight, amazement and astonishment are readly conveyed by the photographs in this exhibition (selected from hundreds), for the character, the styles, the sites are unlike anything else in India, or anything else I've seen in the world.
I was perplexed because the three sites I had found between Trichinopoly and Madura in that first trip were so extraordinary, so exciting, that I couldn't believe what I was later to verify through foremost authorities in London and Paris: that the village gods (Grama Devatas) were virtually unknown except to a few theologians and anthropologists..."
Shrine of Muniapan (showing images of the Seven Sisters); Vadugapalayam (Coimbatore). Courtesy Madalena Holtzman.
"...With this certitude, I was prepared to return to India during the winter of 1960-1961. I explored the regions south of Mysore, from Madras to Cape Comorin, which is the southernmost tip of India, north again to Cochin, to Coimbatore, to Madras, criss-crossing in depth three main areas. I regard this field trip as a pilot study. I discovered and photograped one hundred and thirty sites of this vital and incredibly fascinating expression. Dravidian in origin, antedating the great Hindu pantheon.
The worship of the village gods is considered the most ancient form of Indian religion, antedating the Aryan invasion, circa 1500 B.C. originating with the oldest inhabitants of the South, the Dravidians. These beliefs and customs are also common to other primitive culture. The world is peopled by a moltitude of spirits, good and bad, who are the cause of all unusual events, especially of disease and disasters. The object of their religion is to propitiate and appease these innumerable spirits. Each village is under the protection of some one spirit, its guardian deity. The problems of the universe are not the essential concern. These simple people look only for explanation of the facts and troubles of the precarious nature of village life..."
Village shrine of Ayanar; Nallur (Tiruchirapalli). Courtesy Madalena Holtzman.
"...The village deities are to be found in almost every town and village of Southern India. Altogether different from imposing traditions of Hinduism, as in the Brahmanical temples, the village gods may sometimes have only a very small building, platform of terra cotta miniature to house the main deity, which may often be represented by a few rough stones. Or indeed, as the exhibition shows, by extraordinary arrays and complexes of very small to giant figures. They symbolize the facts of village life. They relate not to great world forces but to cholera, small pox, diseases and disasters, the misfortune of daily life more intimately connected with the happiness and prosperity of the villagers. The clay sculptures (low temperature ceramics) vary in size from about five inches to as much as twenty feet in height. Each village has its own deities, and the sculptures themselves constitute the temples.Their arrangements are unique from a single figure to groups, clusters and long arrays; sometimes scores, sometimes hundreds; always in varying environments : in open spaces, upon platforms, in walled enclosures, on hills, under sacred trees, on the banks of reservois, along rivers, in mysterious wilds and dense groves, never repeated in form or disposition. The newer images, recent propitiations to these demonic deities, are seen to possess brilliant colors..."
Temple of Irulansami; Manalur (Madura). Courtesy Madalena Holtzman.
"...The old sculptures, washed by monsoons, are a rich terra-cotta red against the lush, heavily satured greens, yellows and deep shadows of the deep tropics.
How old are the sculptures in these photos? From brand new to perhaps 150 years old. Who makes them? Village potters and priest potters. Often made of unrefined clay and fired at relatively low temperatres, most tend to disintegrate rapidly in the extremes of heat, monsoons and high winds." (Harry Holtzman Courtesy Madalena Holtzman).
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE3DF12...
The Grama Devatas represent still today an important key to understanding the basic model of thought of a part of South Indian population, still living the village way of life. These particular forms of image and worship have further the extraordinary characteristic of representing the most ancient tradition of the earliest past brought into the present. From the religious art view point, the village shrines represent an outstanding expression of forms and sites unique to India. Mr Stephen Inglis in his writing "Night Riders: Massive Temple Figures of Rural Tamil Nadu", about the terracotta horses of South Indian Shrines wrote that "... technically they are the most ambitiuous achievements in clay found in India and by any survey probably the largest hollow clay images to be created anywhere."
Terracotta objects from the Collection of Mr Harry Holtzman. A wide group of these items was exhibited for the first time in the Philadelphia exhibition of 1968 "Unknown India Ritual Art in Tribe and Village". (Photo Madalena Holtzman, Courtesy Madalena Holtzman) Some pieces were also exhibited in the exhibition ''From Indian Earth: 4000 Years of Terracotta Art" at Brooklyn Museum, about this exhibition read the interesting article of the New York Times by John Russel (published February 23 1986) "Art View: Ancient Sculptures tell of India's life and legends" http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE5DC1E... .
HARRY HOLTZMAN TERRA-COTTA OBJECTS PUBLISHED IN THE CATALOGUE " UNKNOWN INDIA RITUAL ART IN TRIBE AND VILLAGE".
n.52: Votive horse and rider, Bhil Tribe Poshina, Sabarkanta, Gujarat Terra-cotta: 2' 7"x 1'3" x 7".
n101 a,b Two circular Plaques representing Heads of Demons a: Shrine of Muniapan; Palladam, Coimbatore b: Shrine of Mariamman; Udamalpet, Coimbatore. Painted Terra-cotta diam. 9" and 10".
n102 Votive Horse Tindivanum Terra-cotta 2',8" x 9"
n103: Four votive Figures One each from Madura, Viralimalai, Tiruchirapalli and Pudukkottai, Terra-cotta; h: 1',6", 1',5", 11',1/2", 11", respectively.
n104: Crawling Figure, Madura Terra-cotta, h. 11 1/2 ",( photo Madalena Holtzman, Courtesy Madalena Holtzman)
Crawling terra-cotta figure from Madura frontal view detail.
Crawling terra-cotta figure from Madura side view detail.
n105: Heads of Heroes, Demons and Devotes, one each from Tiruchirapalli and Pudukottai, two each from Madura and Coimbatore, Terra-cotta, h. 9 1/2", 8", 7 3/4", 6 3/4", 9" and 8", respectively.
n106: Votive Bull Tiruchirapalli Terra-cotta, h. 1' 1/2"
![GetAttachment[1]](http://static.skynetblogs.be/media/137887/dyn004_original_478_480_pjpeg_2638188_945e0c8bb57ee7019e3a58d2553b6052.jpg)
n107: Head of Bull Madura, Terra-cotta, h. 5 3/4" (photo Madalena Holtzman, courtesy Madalena Holtzman).
n108: Votive Horse Pudukottai Terra-cotta, h: 5 1/2 "
n109: Dog Pudukottai Terra-cotta; h: 11"
n110: Bird Coimbatore Terra-cotta; h: 8"
n111: Votive Plaque Wandiwash Terra-cotta, h: 1'
LENDERS LIST OF THE UNKNOWN INDIA RITUAL ART IN TRIBE AND VILLAGE EXHIBITION :
(Some original slides of the exhibition are actually in the Harry Holtzman paper at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven CT USA).
Archeological Museum, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
Mildred and W.G. Archer Collection
Asutosh Museum of Indian Art, University of Calcutta
Poonam Backliwal, New Delhi
Guruaday Museum - Bengal Bratachari Society.
C.L. Bharany, New Delhi
Bion A. Bowman, Boston Massachusetts
British Museum London
Pamela Bull, Villanova, Pennsylavania
Vittorio Cacciandra, Bombay (and Milan)
Promod Chandra, Chicago
Crafts Museum, New Delhi
Nirubhai Desai, Ahmedabad
Mr and Mrs Thomas C. Dove
Mrs J.L. Eastwick, Charlestown, Pennsylvania
Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachuttes
Arts and Crafts Museum, Gandhi Smriti, Bhavnagar (Gujarat)
Collection of Mr and Mrs James Greene
D.P. Ghosh, Calcutta
Government Museum, Madras
Harry Holtzman, Lyme, Connecticut
Mrs. Pupul Jayakar, New Delhi
Clifford R. Jones, Rochester, New York
J.J. Klejman, New York
Craig Makler, Philadelphia
Collection: Master Benjamin Marks, New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Earl Morse, New York
Manu Narang, Bombay
National Museum, New Delhi
Collection Dorothy Norman, New York
Philadelphia Museum of Art Philadelphia
Courtesy Trustees of the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, Bombay
Rr O.W. Samson, London
Haku Shah, Ahmedabad
Robert M. Shapazian, Fresno California
Nalini and Haridas K. Swali
Mrs Srimati Tagore, Calcutta
Jennifer Turner, Philadelphia
John Turner, Philadelphia
Mrs Aruna Vasudey, New Delhi
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
William H. Wolff, New York.
Among the 130 shrines visited and documentated by Harry Holtzman there was also the Ayanar (Ayyanar) shrine of Pudukkottai, these photos, still today not edited are not available, so I have decided to edit a group of recently (2008) photos from this shrine. Kindly courtesy FABINDIA http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabindia/ .
WORK IN PROGRESS ...
12:19
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