One such form of propitiation is the singing of “Mariamman Thalattu” (Lullaby to mariamman) accompanied by fast playing of a small drum. People believed that in a pox affected person, she has come in person and would not go away unless she is propitiated. People believed that she did not tolerate any clinical treatment for such diseases except worshipping her and caressing the eruptions of the pox (called Muthu- pearls) with margosa leaves. She is considered to be responsible for the pox epidemics which used to wipe away entire villages in the bye gone era. This Another form of worship is for the devotees to hang on a crane(Chedil) with a hook pierced in their body or tied to the pole by cloth. This was also called Karagam and is the forerunner of Karagattam of the present day, which is a dance balancing a pot on the head. After the sacrifice the meat of these animals is carried round her temples in a bamboo basket. Animal sacrifices are often carried out, the preferred animals being goat and buffalo. In some cases, after bath in the nearby river, women go to her temple dressed in a saree like clothing made of Margosa leaves. These embers are never called “fire” but “Flowers” In some other temples the women devotees carry a mud pot containing burning embers kept over Margosa leaves in their bare hand during festivals to please her. In many temples, there is a ritual walk on burning embers by her devotees. There is also a very famous temple for her in the city of Singapore. This temple is built of stone and is architecturally wonderful. One of her most famous temple for her is in Samayapuram near the town of Trichy in Tamil Nadu.
In some cases she is represented only by the statue of her head with local villagers believing that the entire village is her body.
Most of her temples do not have buildings and in some cases, she is represented simply by a granite stone in a village field. Invariably the priest in her temples does not belong to the Brahmin caste and the agamas for her worship are very much different from the normal Hindu temples.
Toddy and meat are offered to her during worship. She is considered as a goddess who would punish, if not propitiated properly. Mostly her form in the temple is ferocious. While most of the people believe that she is the goddess Kali (created by goddess Parvathy to kill Raktha Bheeja) or the form of Renuka Devi who was the mother of Parasurama, some people believe that she is Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas and yet others believe that she is Vasugi, the wife of Thiruvalluvar. Mari, Mariyamma and Marikamba, all denote a grama devata (village goddess) who is very popular in most of the villages of South India.
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