https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Mayana_KollaiMayana Kollai - Revision history2026-10-31T01:35:09ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mayana_Kollai&diff=516995&oldid=prevAccuntpayable1: New a data!2025-12-29T01:15:45Z<p>New a data!</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian festival}}<br />
{{Infobox holiday<br />
| holiday_name = Mayana Kollai<br />
| image = Hindu Goddess Angala parameswary.jpg<br />
| caption = Goddess Kali disguise at the Mayana Kollai festival<br />
| observedby = [[Dravidian folk religion]]<br><br />
[[Shaktism]]<br> [[Hindus]]<br />
| date = Decided by the [[Hindu calendar]]<br />
| frequency = Annual<br />
}}<br />
'''Mayana Kollai''' is a festival celebrated on the first full moon day of February or March or April at all the Angala Parameswari temples in [[Tamil Nadu]], India, after the holiday of after [[Maha Shivaratri]]. It celebrates the goddess [[Angala Devi|Angala Parameswari Amman]], a manifestation of [[Parvati]], in her form as the goddess [[Mahakali]]. <br />
<br />
==Mythological background==<br />
The festival commemorates the story of when Parvati, in her manifestation as Angala Devi, saved her husband Shiva from peril through her wit and power. <br />
<br />
Beset by demons [[Sunda and Upasunda]] who got killed by her, [[Tilottama]], a goddess of divine beauty, sought refuge in the [[Kailasha]], to which the creator god [[Brahma]] followed her. Brahma, like Parvati's husband Shiva the destroyer god, had five heads and therefore Parvati mistook him for her husband and fell at his feet in an act of submission. Angered by this act of betrayal, Shiva took the form of the god [[Rudra]] and beheaded the fifth head of Brahma, invoking a curse upon himself – the head became attached to Shiva's right hand and consumed all the available food, leaving Shiva himself with none. He therefore became a [[Sadhu|mendicant]] and roamed the earth begging for food, sleeping in graveyards.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-05-31 |title=Myths of Mayanakollai festival: From the grave to the goddess |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/myths-mayanakollai-festival-grave-goddess-82227 |access-date=2022-06-19 |website=The News Minute |language=en}}</ref><br />
<br />
Parvathi pleaded with her brother like god, the protector god Vishnu, for a solution. He came up with the idea to trick Brahma's head: Parvati and Shiva would to go to a graveyard, make a pond there, prepare food from hummingbird tree leaves and chicken meats and bloods, and serve that food to the head attached to Shiva. The head would then detach from Shiva's hand to eat the food. Thus Parvati freed Shiva from the head, and purified him in the pond, after which the head could not approach Shiva in his purified state. However, the head then attached itself to Parvati. Through a [[Tandava|sacred cosmic dance]], Parvati amassed sufficient power to destroy the head by crushing it with her right foot to ashes and fusing it with Brahma. In this fierce form, Parvati is known as '''Angara Ruba Amman''' and '''Angala Amman''', from which the Melmalayanur Angala Devi temple at which the festival mainly occurs takes its name.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ramakrishnan |first=Deepa H. |date=2018-02-16 |title=Celebrating victory of good over evil |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/celebrating-victory-of-good-over-evil/article22779051.ece |access-date=2022-06-19 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=V |first=Sriram |date=2015-02-20 |title=The night of the dead |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/the-night-of-the-dead/article6916283.ece |access-date=2022-06-19 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><br />
<br />
== Practice ==<br />
{{Expand section|date=January 2025}}<br />
The holiday is a festival of Tamil origin, said to pre-date Vedic religion, which is called [[Dravidian folk religion]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The night of the dead |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/the-night-of-the-dead/article6916283.ece |access-date=1 January 2025 |work=The Hindu |publisher=THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. |date=February 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240310044553/https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/the-night-of-the-dead/article6916283.ece |archive-date=March 10, 2024}}</ref> The central activity of the festival is a [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]] at the temple, followed by a procession, where an idol of Parvathi is carried to a graveyard or crematorium. An idol of Pavadairayan, a [[South Indian culture|Dravidian]] hero of legend, follows that of Parvathi. The procession concludes at the crematorium, where sacrifices including cooked foods and animals such as chickens and lambs are presented to the deities.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hussain |first1=Zakeer |title=Mayana Kollai Celebrated |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/070319/mayana-kollai-celebrated.html |access-date=1 January 2025 |agency=The Deccan Chronicle |date=March 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250101222245/https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/congress-cancels-all-programmes-for-7-days-to-honor-pm-manmohan-singh-1849962 |archive-date=January 1, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=All About Tamil Nadu's Famous Mayanakollai 'Graveyard' Festival |url=https://www.news18.com/india/all-about-tamil-nadus-famous-mayanakollai-graveyard-festival-8812193.html |access-date=1 January 2025 |agency=News18 |date=March 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318115120/https://www.news18.com/india/all-about-tamil-nadus-famous-mayanakollai-graveyard-festival-8812193.html |archive-date=March 18, 2024}}</ref><br />
<br />
Local artists also craft effigies or figurines of deities from dry grass, paper, and paint. They are carried by devotees in the procession. This is a spiritual practice for many of the sculptors, who adhere to strict vegetarian diets while engaged in this work.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sampath |first1=Rajalakshmi |title=Makkan artists give life to Mayana Kollai figurines |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2024/Mar/07/makkan-artists-give-life-to-mayana-kollai-figurines |access-date=1 January 2025 |agency=The New Indian Express |date=March 6, 2024}}</ref><br />
<br />
Due to the large events, security is generally deployed to manage crowds at Mayana Kollai observances.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mayana Kollai festival : Thousands of devotees throng graveyards to appease deity |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2019/mar/06/mayana-kollai-festival--thousands-of-devotees-throng-graveyards-to-appease-deity-1947612.html |access-date=2022-06-19 |website=The New Indian Express|date=6 March 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-03-01 |title=Pandemic hit Mayana Kollai festival returns in Vellore, nearby districts |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/mayana-kollai-festival-returns-in-vellore-nearby-districts/article65155571.ece |access-date=2022-06-19 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Festivals in Tamil Nadu]]<br />
[[Category:Hindu festivals in India]]</div>Accuntpayable1