The wood and grove and enchanting islet
The river and lake and such other places, |
and again The banyan and katampu and riverine islet and mountain peak....5 |
In his worship, his devotees use the flowers of the mountain region such as the gloriosa superba, the red ixora, and other red flowers. The rites connected with the worship of Murukan include offerings of the produce of the hill districts. The inhabitants of the hills make offerings of millet and honey, or millet mixed with the petals of red flowers and the blood of rams. A peculiar dance where the priests or the priestesses get int.o a religious frenzy formed an integral part of the ritual. In each place where he is worshipped he may bear a different name. He is said to visit these habitations in order to confer his graces, and to join in dance on his mountain abodes with the celestial damsels the sound of whose anklets fill the mountainside. His appearance on his peacock is like that of the rising sun over the brim of the ocean. He himself is decked with a wreath of red veṭci blooms, and garlands of flowers from his favorite tree, the kaṭambu, which is sacred to him, and from his ears hang leaves of the aśoka. His worshippers are not less fond of flowers and leaves than are the priests and priestesses who officiate in his sacrificial rites. They wear wreaths and garlands of the red flowers mentioned above, the priestesses in addition wearing around their waists, garments of intertwined leaves and flowers.6 The hill which was believed to be the special abode of Murukan was Tirupparangkunram near Madurai, the natural beauty of which is abundantly described in the Paripaaṭal odes and the Tirumurukaaṛṛuppaṭai. Tirupparaṅkunṛam today appears as an immense bare boulder, a landmark for all the ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 Tirumuruku; 223ff; Pari; 3, 67 ff. 6 These facts may be found passim in the Paripaatal on “Cevveeḷ” and the Tirumurukaarruppatai; Kur; 362. A confirmation of the literary evidence for the cult of Murukan is found from the finds at Aaticaynalluur in Southern India. See M. GOETZ, India, p. 34 f. London, 1959. |