There are various temple dedicated for Ma Draupadi Amman which are located in various parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. Among the hundreds of Draupadi Amman scattered across south India, there is a famous temple dedicated to her in Alandur, Chennai, which is located just a few kilometres far away from the popular Kathipara junction. In the Alandur Draupati Amman Temple, apart from the main shrine, there are also shrines for Lord Vinayaka, Vishnu, Sri Krishna, and Sri Radha Rukmini Sameta Sri Santhana Venugopal, and Devi Varahi, Mahalakshmi, Vaishnavi, Brahmi, and Devi Durga.
The temple celebrates the yearly festival in the Tamil month of Chithirai and devotees would grandly celebrate it after getting permission from Ma Draupadi Amman. During that wonderful occasion, devotees from nearby villages also used to participate in order to get the divine blessings of Ma Draupadi Amman.
Draupadi was the affectionate daughter of the great Panchala King Drupada and she played the sacred female character in the holy epic, Mahabharata, where she was the wife of the Pandavas and she sincerely and wilfully served them. People used to worship Ma Draupadi as a Grama Devata (village deity), as a Ishta Devata (beloved deity) and also as a Kula Devata (family deity). She occupies an important place in the villages across Tamil Nadu.
People consider Ma Draupadi as a Goddess who protects the villages and the villagers and all of her devotees. She is considered to be an aspect of Ma Shakti Devi, and she is also worshipped as Ma Mahamariamman. She also contains the features of Mahakali, who was born on the previous Dwapara Yuga in order to put an end for the evil elements in the world. Ma Draupadi is considered as a sister of Lord Krishna.
According to the epic Mahabharata, Panchala, the present day U.P. is said to be the birthplace of Draupadi, also called as ‘Panchali’. During the previous dwapara yuga, King Drupada of Panchala had performed a yajna and from the sacrificial fire, Draupadi and her brother Dhrishtadyumna arouse. At that place, people were heard a divine voice, and it informed that the pious girl was none other than the holy mother Mata Parvati, and Dhrishtadyumna was none other than the great Agni Dev.
“OM MA DRAUPATI AMMANE NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR