Sprouts of the Body, Sprouts of the Field: Identification of the Goddess with Poxes in South India

In south India, when a person is afflicted with poxes of any variety, it is believed that the goddess Mariyamman has “arrived„ in the person. The Tamil term “<i>ammai</i>„ means pustules or “pearls„ of poxes as well as mother/go...

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Main Author:	Perundevi Srinivasan
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	MDPI AG 2019-02-01
Series:	Religions
Subjects:	Mariyamman ammai poxes affliction Tamil religious experience Hinduism rain agricultural field goddess
Online Access:	https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/3/147

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spelling	doaj-1a07c3b3943a46cb9516053c9e74fae22020-11-24T23:56:45ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442019-02-0110314710.3390/rel10030147rel10030147Sprouts of the Body, Sprouts of the Field: Identification of the Goddess with Poxes in South IndiaPerundevi Srinivasan0Religious Studies, Siena College, Loudonville, NY 12211, USAIn south India, when a person is afflicted with poxes of any variety, it is believed that the goddess Mariyamman has “arrived„ in the person. The Tamil term “<i>ammai</i>„ means pustules or “pearls„ of poxes as well as mother/goddess. Indigenous discourses, gleaned from resources, such as songs and narratives, facilitate our interrogation of the Hindu “religious experience„ that underscores the immanent and eminent manifestations of the deity and the dimension of benevolence associated with pox-affliction. Asking what might be the triggering conditions for identifying the pox-afflicted body as the goddess, I problematize the prevalent scholarly characterization of such affliction in terms of “possession„ of a body, taken as a “mute facticity,„ by an external agent, namely, the goddess. Drawing from ethnographic sources and classical Tamil texts, I argue that the immanent identification of the body as the goddess and conceptualization of her sovereign authority over the body during affliction are facilitated by an imagistic relationship of the afflicted body with an agricultural field, which is conventionally regarded as feminine in the Tamil context.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/3/147MariyammanammaipoxesafflictionTamilreligious experienceHinduismrainagricultural fieldgoddess
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Perundevi Srinivasan
spellingShingle	Perundevi Srinivasan Sprouts of the Body, Sprouts of the Field: Identification of the Goddess with Poxes in South India Religions Mariyamman ammai poxes affliction Tamil religious experience Hinduism rain agricultural field goddess
author_facet	Perundevi Srinivasan
author_sort	Perundevi Srinivasan
title	Sprouts of the Body, Sprouts of the Field: Identification of the Goddess with Poxes in South India
title_short	Sprouts of the Body, Sprouts of the Field: Identification of the Goddess with Poxes in South India
title_full	Sprouts of the Body, Sprouts of the Field: Identification of the Goddess with Poxes in South India
title_fullStr	Sprouts of the Body, Sprouts of the Field: Identification of the Goddess with Poxes in South India
title_full_unstemmed	Sprouts of the Body, Sprouts of the Field: Identification of the Goddess with Poxes in South India
title_sort	sprouts of the body, sprouts of the field: identification of the goddess with poxes in south india
publisher	MDPI AG
series	Religions
issn	2077-1444
publishDate	2019-02-01
description	In south India, when a person is afflicted with poxes of any variety, it is believed that the goddess Mariyamman has “arrived„ in the person. The Tamil term “<i>ammai</i>„ means pustules or “pearls„ of poxes as well as mother/goddess. Indigenous discourses, gleaned from resources, such as songs and narratives, facilitate our interrogation of the Hindu “religious experience„ that underscores the immanent and eminent manifestations of the deity and the dimension of benevolence associated with pox-affliction. Asking what might be the triggering conditions for identifying the pox-afflicted body as the goddess, I problematize the prevalent scholarly characterization of such affliction in terms of “possession„ of a body, taken as a “mute facticity,„ by an external agent, namely, the goddess. Drawing from ethnographic sources and classical Tamil texts, I argue that the immanent identification of the body as the goddess and conceptualization of her sovereign authority over the body during affliction are facilitated by an imagistic relationship of the afflicted body with an agricultural field, which is conventionally regarded as feminine in the Tamil context.
topic	Mariyamman ammai poxes affliction Tamil religious experience Hinduism rain agricultural field goddess
url	https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/3/147
work_keys_str_mv	AT perundevisrinivasan sproutsofthebodysproutsofthefieldidentificationofthegoddesswithpoxesinsouthindia
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Sprouts of the Body, Sprouts of the Field: Identification of the Goddess with Poxes in South India

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