Gods coming to Earth?

I was born in the southern city in the extreme tip of India, Madurai [The Athens of the east] in Tamil Nadu state. Neither can one can choose their place of birth nor place of the womb. The city I was born is always hot, hotter and hottest in weather. Hardly, we had only one sweater in our childhood and use only when there would be continuous rains for 2-3 days during the cyclone. I remember my brown colour sweater and my siblings had yellow and white. Our mother would take our sweater from the shelves for a short duration wear and when the sun comes back from the clouds, it would again go back into the suitcase awaiting the next year cyclone. During summers, due to heat our faces will become dark and black. When we return back home after playing under the sun in peak summers, our elders would ask “Is moonlight cooling you?”

Many other interesting things about this city. Like, I was breathing “Tamil”, the oldest first language in the world and about 5,000 years old. Our city was epicenter of the pure Tamil. Today, Srilanka, Malaysia and Singapore has this pure Tamil. Tamil is the official language in Singapore. The city has the one of the biggest, beautiful Meenakshi Amman temple, known for its magnificent architecture and the original structure was built in the 6^th century BC. I have seen many foreign tourists visiting this temple.

The famous drink in Madurai city is Jigarthanda a cold beverage. Jigarthanda translates to “Liver cool” [“jigar” means “Liver” in Urdu / Hindi, “thanda” means “cool” in Hindi] in English.. The basic ingredients include milk, almond gum, sarsaparilla root syrup, sugar and ice-cream. It cools the body in the hottest city. It is a 365 days drink in our city.

There is an interesting story of Lord Shiva coming down to earth and playing a divine game with the great Poet Nakeerar based on the writings in the Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam written during the 16^th century.

The king Shenbagapandian, who ruled Madurai, wants to find the answer to a question posed by his wife [Whether the fragrance of a woman’s hair is natural or artificial], and announces a reward of 1,000 gold coins to anyone who can come up with the answer. Dharumi, a poor poet, desperately wants the reward, and starts to break down in the Meenakshi Amman Temple. Lord Shiva, hearing him weeping, takes the form of a poet and gives Dharumi a poem containing the answer. Overjoyed, Dharumi takes the poem to Shenbagapandian’s court and recites it; however, the court’s head poet Nakkeerar claims that the poem’s meaning is incorrect. On hearing this, Shiva argues with Nakkeerar about the poem’s accuracy and burns him to ashes when he refuses to relent even after knowing he was Lord Shiva. He went into the Pond in the Meenakshi Amman temple to avoid the heat generated from the third eye of Lord Shiva. Later, Shiva revives Nakkeerar and says that he only wanted to test his knowledge. Realizing it was Shiva’s will that Dharumi should get the reward, Nakkeerar requests Shenbagapandian to give it to Dharumi.

Coming to the subject, the city will be more vibrant during the vacation during May month. Initially my academic calendar year was from January to December and later changed to June to April due to the peak summer in May for vacation. During the vacation in May month, our city would witness Chithirai Thiruvizha [Chithirai festival] The festival, celebrated during the Tamil month of Chithirai, is associated with the Meenakshi Temple, dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Parvati and her consort Sundareshwar, a form of Shiva. The festival lasts for one month. The first 15 days mark the celebrations of the coronation of Meenakshi as the divine ruler of Madurai and her marriage to Sundareshwar [Lord Shiva]. The next 15 days mark the celebrations of the journey of Kallalagar [A form of the god Vishnu] from his temple in Alagar Koyil to Madurai.

Villagers from our surrounding city will come in bullock carts to celebrate the long festival. They park their carts in the streets and dwell in them during those festival times. They ask help from us and we help them. Our streets will be filled with those villagers and as a child it would be very happy to see them come to our city for the festival. Festivals are the hallmark of any religion and festivals brings in joy, happiness and love amongst us. They bring love within ourselves and not hatredness.

As per the legend, Meenakshi was the daughter of the Pandya king Malayadhwaja Pandian and queen Kanchana Malai. The royal couple did not have a child for a long time, so Malayadhwaja Pandian performed special poojas and offered his prayers to God. During the pooja, a small girl came out of the fire and sat on the lap of the king. At that time, a divine voice from the sky told them that this child was an incarnation of Parvati [The wife of Shiva], and Shiva himself would come to marry her at the right age. Meenakshi was trained in warfare, and she was crowned as the queen of the Pandya kingdom after her father died. She conquered the whole world with her extraordinary war skills, and at last she went to Kailash [The abode of Shiva] to conquer it. When Meenakshi confronted Shiva in the battlefield, she fell in love with him and realized that she was a form of Parvati.

Shiva assured Meenakshi that he would come to Madurai to marry her. As promised, Shiva, along with all the gods and the sages, came to Madurai.

The wedding of Meenakshi with Sundareshwar was to happen in Madurai. Alagar, the brother of Meenakshi, was invited. He started on a 20 km journey from his abode at Alagar Hills towards Madurai. Alagar decided to travel disguised as a robber to protect himself and his belongings. At times, he had to hide to avoid getting arrested by soldiers. This, and the dense forest of Alagar Hills, delayed his journey further. This delay was purposely caused by Sundareshwar, and he himself took form of Alagar and performed the “Kanyathanam” [Handing over a girl in marriage] of Meenakshi. This was enacted by Sundareshwar to prove that Vishnu and Shiva are one and the same. Later, when Alagar was crossing the Vaigai river, he learned that his sister’s wedding was over. This made him furious. To pacify him, Meenakshi and Sundareshwar came to the Vaigai river. Alagar chose to give all the gifts that he carried to Meenakshi and Sundareshwar in a Mandapam in the middle of the Vaigai river, and returned to Alagar Hill without entering Madurai. Shiva as Sundareshwar married Meenakshi and ruled the Pandya kingdom.

Every year, this will be enacted during the summer vacation time in our city. People in and around Madurai tell this story as the history of Chithirai Thiruvizha. After the festivals ends, villagers will go back to their villages. The streets would be empty and I feel sad that the long festival have come to an end. I feel sad like how Rabindranath Tagore felt sad during his childhood when his paper boat got drowned in the rains.

I go to bed eagerly awaiting the next year summer so Gods can land on Earth…To see Goddess Meenakshi on Earth. International communities celebrate their own festivals of Gods coming to earth whether it is in ancient Greece, Egypt, Ireland or Africa.

Note-The images given for representation in this blog are taken from Google / Unsplash Images. Many thanks for Google & Unsplash