User:Johnkumar01/sandbox/Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, Ayer Tawar

Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, Ayer Tawar is  located  beside   Ipoh-Lumut Highway near Taman Sungai Wang. This temple is one of the well known  temples  around Manjung District. The main god in this temple is  Sri   Maha  Mariamman. Sri Maha Mariamman is one of many forms of Sakthi

History
The   temple   was   established    on   1918   and    was first   registered on 1969. The first temple building was built on 1918. The new building was built again on 1969 as the first temple building was collapsed. This building  was  replaced  with  the new building as the former   building’s    roofs    were     damaged. The   new      building was   finished   built   and   opened  for  ritual activities on 29.11.2007. This new and beautiful building  was built in the    way    that   a    temple   should    look   like    according     to    the requirement    of    Hindu  religion and it is one of the biggest temple buildings around this Manjung District.

The Goddess
It is  believed  that  the   goddess Mariamman  in   this  temple  is  very powerful as this temple is 1000 years   old. Many supernatural phenomenon have been observed and felt in this holy place. Mariamman is an ancient goddess, whose worship probably originated from pre-Vedic[citation needed] mother goddess cult of Dravidian people before the arrival of the Aryans[citation needed] with their Brahmanic religion[citation needed] .This is well attested by the unemployment of Brahmins in officiating the worshipping rituals of the goddess and by the non-Vedic worshipping method that was embraced by her devotees. In Tamil, the word 'Maari' would mean rain and 'amman' would literally mean mother but here "mother nature.". 'Maari' can also mean female form of 'Indra' who is also called 'Maara'. Since the 'Indra' worship was prevalent among the Sangam Tamil people, 'Maari' as a female form of 'Maara' or 'Indra' is worshipped for bestowing rainfall. 'Indrani' is one of the saptha kannikas and the 7 kannikas find innumerable references in Tamil Sangam literature as well as temple worship. She was believed and worshipped by the ancient Dravidian people to bring rain and hence prosperity to them as their vegetation was mainly dependent upon rain. The goddess was not a local deity, connected to a specific location but worshiped throughout the Dravidian nation.