User:Ganeshanand1980

Sudalaimadaswami, for whom a pedigree tracing his descent from Siva, has been prepared. In all peyankoils he has the place of honor. Whether he be in the form of a pudam or an image, he is the biggest. He wears a high hat rather like that of an archbishop or a Parsee. He has a fierce moustache and gleaming eyes, in his right hand he brandishes a short sword and his left hand rests on a thick club. But in actual life he assumes many forms. He is seen as a man riding on a white horse.

He and Mundaswami his brother subordinate to attention something wrong has happened it means, and a kodai must be performed. Sheep and pigs are the sacrifices in which he delights, the heart and the unborn young cut outand laid before him, and the tiralai, performed at the burning-ground, will alone appease his passion. Mundaswami, on the other hand, is a low groveling creature like a pig and is very ferocious

Sivananainja perumal was created by Siva for the express purpose of picking red flowers at dawn. Duped by Vishnu, he failed in this task one day and was consequently sent with a curse to earth by his creator. Bad policy though it may seem to recall so unpleasant an incident, all things connected with his rituals are red. The sheep slain in his honor are red, and the time of sacrifice must be dawn, when the sky is red his image is adorned on feast days with red flowers and red cloths, and is smeared with red and white paint.

Associated with these, Pechi and Brahmarashakthi. They were on earth from the beginning of things, and were appointed by Siva to be the foster-mothers of Sudalamadaswami, when he was banished from Kailasam. Pechi is a horrible and dangerous creature.

A festival which lasts for three days is called a kodai conducted twice in a year. I.e., AAvani 1st Friday and Thai 1st Tuesday with devotees shares and taxes.

Highlighted one is, forward with plantains, soak them in the blood of the Kaniyans and give them to the komarattadi (Swamy) to eat. Human blood is contributed by the Kaniyans \ one or two of whom lend their services on the occasion of most kodais. They are not komarattadis, but, like them, they dance and sing under the inspiration of the deities. When his frenzy is at its height, the Kaniyan takes a knife and cuts his arm till the blood flows. Plantain leaves (fifty-one is the correct number) are laid out to receive the drops. Finally swamy eats the mixture of arms and tongue blood.

A remarkable item on the programme of many kodais is, what is known as the tiralai??? Towards midnight on the day of festival the komarattadis accompanied by the Kaniyans with a drum (single murasu) march off to the burial yard. bearing in a pot the tiralai, a dumpling of rice and meat. A sheep and a pig (which become the perquisites of the Kaniyan) are slain,their blood mixed with another contribution from the arms of the Kaniyan. One of the Kaniyan then takes the tiralai and throws it over his shoulder in the air. It never falls to the ground; for Sudalaimadan, the haunter of burning-grounds, in whose honour the rite is done, invariably catches it. It is on the return of this party to the place of revelry that the music and dancing which have gone on at intervals by day and night throughout the festival attain their highest pitch of fury. The chief instrument of music (if the word may be used) is the villu and Magudam (Kaniyan tappattai). The komarattadi is dressed to represent the deity whom he honors and whose personality he will presently assume. A highly decorated cap, with three conical peaks, tails of shaggy hair, a hatchet in his right hand, a spear with jingling bells.

The caste of Kaniyan is generally graded below the Sudras. The female deities are represented by men with woman’s costumes and make up for kanyan dancing which is a crucial one.

At first, when the devil-dance is beginning, the accompaniment is slow, and the dancer starts with a few convulsive movements, which, as the music quickens and his inspiration grows, develop into more excited leaps and plunges. The music becomes louder and faster, and the dancer’s antics grow more furious, the god is not far off. A flaming torch (Pantham) is handed to him, and to increase his frenzy he applies the fire to his breast and face. The pace rises to madness, the musicians bang and thump and scream, the Kaniyans dressed as women come in beating their cylindrical drums and throw themselves madly about the komarattadi is now possessed. His personality is in abeyance, his movements and speeches are completely under the deity’s control. He is regarded by all as a god and answers out of the fullness of his superhuman knowledge all the questions with which the bystanders ply him.

Request all to visit the forthcoming kodai which is going to happen by coming Aavani 1st Friday and stay blessed with our powerful god.