| Mayana Kollai | |
|---|---|
 Goddess Kali disguise at Mayana Kollai festival | |
| Observed by | Dravidian folk religion Shaktism Hindus |
| Date | Decided by the Hindu calendar |
| Frequency | Annual |
Mayana Kollai is a festival celebrated on the first full moon day of February at the Angala Parameswari temples in Tamil Nadu, India, after the holiday of after Shivaratri. It celebrates the deity Angala Parameswari Amman, a manifestation of Parvathi, in her form as the goddess Mahakali.
The festival commemorates the story of when Shakti, in her manifestation as Parvathi, saved her husband Shiva from peril through her wit and power.
Beset by demons, Tilottam, a being of divine beauty, sought refuge in the abode of Lord Shiva, to which the god Brahma followed her. Brahma, like Parvati's husband Shiva, had five heads and therefore Parvati mistook him for her husband and fell at his feet in an act of submission. Angered by this, Shiva took the form of the deity Rudra and beheaded the fifth head of Brahma, invoking a curse upon himself – the head became attached to Shiva's right hand and consumed all the available food, leaving Shiva himself with none. He therefore became a mendicant and roamed the earth begging for food, sleeping in graveyards. [1]
Parvathi pleaded with her brother, the protector god Vishnu, for a solution. He came up with the idea to trick Brahma's head: Parvathi and Shiva would to go to a graveyard, make a pond there, prepare food from hummingbird tree leaves and chicken blood, and serve that food to the head attached to Shiva. The head would then detach from Shiva's hand to eat the food. Thus Parvathi freed Shiva from the head, and purified him in the pond, after which the head could not approach Shiva in his purified state. However, the head then attached itself to Parvathi. Through a sacred cosmic dance, Parvathi amassed sufficient power to destroy the head by brushing it with her right foot. In this fierce form, Parvathi is known as Angara Rubam and Angalaamman, from which the temple at which the festival occurs takes its name. [2] [3]
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The holiday is a festival of Tamil origin, said to pre-date Vedic religion, which is called Dravidian folk religion. [4] The central activity of the festival is a puja at the temple, followed by a procession, where an idol of Parvathi is carried to a graveyard or crematorium. An idol of Pavadairayan, a Dravidian hero of legend, follows that of Parvathi. The procession concludes at the crematorium, where sacrifices including cooked foods and animals such as chickens and lambs are presented to the deities. [5] [6]
Local artists also craft effigies or figurines of deities from dry grass, paper, and paint. They are carried by devotees in the procession. This is a spiritual practice for many of the sculptors, who adhere to strict vegetarian diets while engaged in this work. [7]
Due to the large events, security is generally deployed to manage crowds at Mayana Kollai observances. [8] [9]