‘ĒḺUKAṈṈIMĀR’: MODESTY OF THE SEVEN VERSATILE VIRGINS
Authors :R.K.K. Rajarajan & Jeyapriya Rajarajan
Abstract
The Hindus worship deities of anthropomorphic origin, while rural and tribal groups make their own deities grāmadēvatas and kuḷadēvatas based on their heroic deeds. The Virgin Mother Goddess is prevalently deified all through the nation. The Sapta Mātṛkas are popularly known as Ēḻukaṉṉimār ‘the seven virgins’ in Tamil Nādu, especially with the tribal and rural populace, they are also called Sapta Kaṉṉika, Akasa Kaṉṉika and so on in South India. Unlike a formal Brahmanical God with rūpa, these village deities are arūpa and their power can only be felt, as the Tamil Classical term aṇaṅku ‘possessed’ śakti. The possessed power of the woman in Tamil tradition is virginity, chastity, and versatile motherhood. These chaste-virgin goddesses are not mere personalities but felt as forces of their natural environments, and their powers need to be used cautiously. It is imperative to comprehend the idea of these goddesses and is supple and mutable from one locality to the other with the relocation of the community settlements. The Seven Chaste women noted in the Cilappatikāram through the Sapta Kaṉṉikas reach a stage of maturation in the Sapta Mātṛkas. However, faint imagery of the Sapta Mātṛkas is traced back to the Indic culture whereas the Sapta Kaṉṉikas are frozen in the folk cult and the worship pattern is associated with the femme.
Keywords: Ēḻukaṉṉimār, Sapta Mātṛkas, the Chaste, Goddesses, folk cult
