trees in dark glades and sombre spots were considered the dwellings of evil spirits. And when the gods and the celestials of the Āryan pantheon and the fertile and prolific animism of the North were introduced to the Tamils, more trees were chosen as symbolic of the new gods, or as the habitations of the puranic editions of the old ones. The evidence in favour of the worship of trees is plentiful and it has been noted that most of the temples of the present day have some dried up trunk of a hoary tree as its cherished relic, and may have had their origin in the symbolic tree of the god worshipped in the temple.30 Each village had a common or meeting place known as the manṛam or potuyil, a spacious square where the villagers would meet or recreate. This too became a place of worship because of the trees that were supposed to be the habitations of inferior deities which resided in the lower part of the trunk. Any tree might come in for worship, the more hoary the tree the greater the probability of its being made the object of worship. In Naṛṛinai, there is mention of a palmyrah palm that has come to be associated with a god.31ṣ The banyan tree, probably because of its beneficent shade in the tropic sun, was credited to be the residence of superior deities like śiva. In puranic theogony, Viṣṇu or Tirumaal is said to have been found incarnate on a banyan leaf that was afloat on the waters, and śiva expounds his teachings seated under a banyan tree. The expression “Aalamar-kadavul” the “god of the banyan throne”, is often found in the classics with respect to these two gods. The banyan and other trees acquired increased sacredness if situated on the shores of lakes or tanks to which people resorted for bathing or ceremonial ablutions. The margosa tree, probably because of its medicinal properties, was credited with marvellous powers and was symbolic of Kaali, godess of paalai. Its leaves, if hung athwart the portals of a dwelling, were supposed to prevent the entrance of evil spirits. Such evil spirits were also warded off by hanging the leaves of the irvan (the serpent-champak), and by ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 30G. SUBRAMANIA PILLAI, “Tree Worship and Ophiolatry in the Tamil Nad”, Journal of Annamalai University, Vol. XII, p. 70 ff. 31 Nar; 303. |