Mariamman also known as Mariamma and Thandu Mariamman is a holy goddess of rain and mainly worshipped as a popular deity in tamil nadu. Mariamman is also associated with Mata Parvati and contains the features of Kali Devi. Festivals for Mariammam are grandly celebrated in the tamil month of “Aadi” which is known as “Aadi Thiruvizha”. She is usually worshipped for curing diseases like poxes, stomach problems and all types of dreaded diseases. She will also relieve us from mental disorders and gives us great strength and energy in order to sustain in our life.
Festivals are known to cut through the caste, creed and other disparities that are known to divide a group of people. It is always a feast to the eye when people defying all the boundaries drum up for the special occasions that distinguishes a culture. In other words, these festivals make the culture and are the recourse to preserve the identity in the whims of our life when miscellaneous whammy acts are pervasive. Salem is no different from the rest of Tamil Nadu in solemnizing the rich and resplendent festivals across the district.
Festivals like Bhogi, Pongal, Mattu Pongal, Samathuva Pongal are very well celebrated in Salem besides the festivals in the varied temples lingering the whole of the year. People of all age groups garner for the sundry festivals to uphold the spirit of the Tamil. It is always recommended to visit Tamil Nadu during the Pongal season when Bhogi, Maatu Pongal, Samathuva Pongal are also concurrently observed and it falls typically in January. The relevant cultural info of Tamil Nadu, in this case of Salem is definitely procured during these exuberant fiestas.
Some of the important festivals enjoyed across the district are enlisted below:
Mariamman Festival
An incarnation of power, temples devoted to the Deity Mariamman is erected all around Salem.
The Mariamman festival is celebrated annually in July for a fortnight where by the deity is adorned in jewels and carried in a flower chariot around the city.
The first day marks the people walking on fire and the second day is more enriching with parades of people garbed in fancy attires.
The shrines of Fort, Ammapet, Gugai, Shevapet, Andheripeti are the renowned Mariamman temples in Salem.
Aadi Festival in Kottai Mariamman Temple
Aadi festival is celebrated concurrently with an event named as Poochaatu which extends for 15 days. The charted programmes are planting Kambam, inviting The Mother of Power, urulundam that offers pongal to the deities Mariamman and Maha Abhishek, Karaka- a folk dance by group of men and women flaunting pots on the heads without touching and balancing merely by body movement.
Aadi festival is emphasized by the distribution of flowers to other Mariamman temples.
Car Festival in Shevapet Mariamman Temple
The Shevapet Mariamman car festival conducted annually in the months of July-August is one of the popular festivals of the district which extends for a week. It is one of the biggest car Festival among the Amman car festivals in Tamil Nadu.
“MARIAMMA KARUMARIAMMA SUGUMARIAMMA NAMO NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR