Coorg Deities

The people of Coorg have great faith in a certain Kaliatanda Ponnappa, or simply Kaliat Ajjappa, the spirit of a Malayalam man, who came to Coorg many generations ago, was naturalized, married a Coorg woman, and established himself at Nalknad. He was a great magician, and long the dread of the Coorgs. At last he was shot near tha Nalknad taluk courthouse. Since his death, his spirit takes possession of men, who give themselves up to the strange arts that he practised. A similar worship is still possibly maintained in honour of Acha Nayak in Chikka Munduru in Kiggatnad.

Higher even than Kaliat-Ajjappa, in the estimation of all Coorg, stands a certain female devil at Kutta called Karingali (Kari Kali), or the Kuttad-amma. Kutta lies at the borders of Wynad. Kuttadamma has no temple, but she is represented by some stones in an enclosure under a tree in the forest. For bloody sacrifices offered there, only fowls are admissible. Large sums of money are annually sent there by people from all parts of Coorg. Many vows are paid to Kuttadamma on behalf of sick people or of the dead. And whether a sick person recover or die, the sum vowed for his recovery must be paid. Liberal presents are also given to her pujari to engage her services against enemies, who, they say, are distressed or altogether destroyed by the demon in answer to the prayers of her priest. There has been, however, a decrease in the influence of Kuttadamma over the minds of Coorgs since the 20th century.

Another annual sacrifice every house used to offer is to a divinity called Gulika. This is an invisible constellation or star, belonging both to the order of planets and to that of the zodiacal stars. It is, as the people say, a son of Shani or Saturn. No mortal eye sees it. The astrologer only knows the Gulika and its power, especially over the sick. A stone is placed for the Gulika at the foot of some tree possessed of a milky juice. There the Coorgs offer fowls, coconuts and a little brandy, in a dish of plantain leaves. In cases of frequent deaths in a family, a second Gulika, called Mrityu Gulika, the Gulika of death, is worshipped.

According to Coorg lore, the cobra di capella lives a thousand years. When it was passed the meridian of its long life, its body begins to shrink, and to brighten till it shines like silver, and measures three feet or less , at the age of six or seven hundred years. Still later, the reptile shines like gold, and is only one foot in length. At last it shrinks to the size of a finger. Then it will some day fly up high into the air, die and sink down upon the ground, where it disappears altogether. The Natas, or spots on which cobras have finished their course of terrestrial life are the object of solemn ceremonies. Should any human being unawares set foot upon the hallowed spot, incurable disease of the skin will break out upon him and the poor wretch will rot away by degrees. To prevent such disasters, the Nata place is marked by a little stone enclosure. During the month of Scorpio (November—December) a lamp is lighted every evening at the Nata, and coconuts are offered.

Coorgs also believe that each bane (parcel of grass or forest-ground) has a presiding divinity, to which an annual sacrifice of pork should be offered. If this sacrifice is not made, or not properly performed, the Ka-devaru, the tending god, i. e., the god watching over the cattle, will withdraw his favour, and sickness and death among the cattle will ensue.

One can also see many groves set apart in each nad in Coorg for some object of worship (chiefly for Ayyappa-devaru). These are called Devara-Kadu which literally means Sacred Forest and are considered to be the abodes or hunting grounds of heroic ancestors. Some of them are - Iguttappa Devara kadu, Joma-male, Iruli-bane.

As among other Dravidian mountain-tribes, so also in Coorg, tradition relates that human sacrifices were offered in former times to secure the favour of their Grama Devatas - Mariamma, Durga and Bhadra Kali, the tutelary goddesses of the Sakti line, who are supposed to protect the villages or nads from all evil influences.

Legend goes that in Kirindadu and Konincheri-grama in Katiyetnad, once in three years, in December and June, a human sacrifice used to be brought to Bhadra Kali, and during the offering by the Panikas, the people exclaimed 'aan, Amma!' (a man, oh mother!). But once a devotee shouted, 'aan alla Amma, aad!' (not a man, oh mother, a goat!), and since that time a goat without blemish has been sacrificed.

Source: Mysore and Coorg, Vol. III by Lewis Rice

Coorg Deities - Story of Seven Gods

Though Coorg tradition has been supplanted by Brahmanism, there is one story free from this imputation, and it throws light on the origin of some of the Coorg deities. The story is given by the Reverend G. Richter, as taken from oral tradition (the Song of Seven Gods), and runs thus -

In ancient times there lived in the Malabar country six brothers and a sister. Five of them, accompanied by their sister Ponnangalatamma, went to Coorg by the Paditora ghat. While they were on the road, four of them said, 'How is it that our sister comes with us? The people will say that she is our wife.' The fifth replied, 'If she comes with us, we will spoil her caste.' When they came to the Chauripade hill near the Kakabe river, they felt hungry. Then Iguttappa said to his sister, 'Prepare us some food.' She replied, 'I have neither fire nor rice.' Iguttappa said, 'I will give you rice, but you must boil it without fire.' She replied, 'I will boil it without fire, but you must eat it without salt.' To this the brothers agreed. Then Ponnangalatamma, seeing a cow, one belonging to the Paradanda house, went and milked her, letting the milk fall into a pot full of rice, and while the brothers were sleeping in the shade of a tree, went to the bank of the river and buried the vessel in the sand, where it began to boil. Then she called her brothers to eat the rice which she had prepared.

When they had eaten enough, Iguttappa took some rice, threw it up into the air, and exclaimed, 'See how the hail is falling from the sky!' Ponnangalatamma, angry at this, took up a wooden ladle, and giving him a heavy blow on his back, said, 'See how the thunder breaks in the monsoon!' Then the other brothers all laughed at him. Afterwards, while they were sitting together and chewing betel, Palurappa said, 'Let us see whose betel is the reddest.' Then they all spat out the betel into their hands to look at it, after which the brothers, pretending that they were throwing it again into their mouths and chewing, threw the betel behind their heads. The sister, deluded by this, threw her betel into her mouth again, and went on chewing. They now said that by so doing she had lost her caste, and their brother in Malabar too, to whom they appealed, confirmed their decision.

Ponnangalatamma was excessively grieved, and wept bitterly. But Iguttappa threw an arrow from the Iguttappa-betta and ordered his sister to go with the arrow and stay where it fell. The arrow stuck into a mango tree at Ponnangala, in the village of Yawakkapadi, and Ponnangalatamma, assuming the shape of a crane, flew towards the spot. Near the Karatandra house some Holeyas were working in the paddy fields. Ponnangalatamma flew upon one of them, who thereupon became possessed, and ran towards the tree in which the arrow was sticking. The brothers then separated into different villages, where they settled, and the whole family were afterwards worshipped as gods. Baiturappa has a temple at Baitur in Malabar, the second in Taliparambu in Malabar, the third in the Maletambira forest in the Joma-male in Coorg, the fourth on the Iguttappa hill near Kunjila, the fifth at Palur in Kuyangeri nad; the sixth, Tirnalli Thimmaya, at Tirnalli in the Wynad. A temple was also built for Ponnangalatamma, round the tree where the arrow had stuck. At her annual feast, in April, Ponnangalatamma weeps, and is worshipped by the Holeyas. The arrow is, up to the present day, seen sticking in the wild mango tree.

Source: Mysore and Coorg, Vol. III by Lewis Rice