Myth Rituals of Akkammadeities by Urumulavaru

1478 Words3 Pages

According to mythology majority of the people worship Lord Shiva as a divine mercy god and his wife Parvathi as Adi Parasakthi who are known as Universal parents. Akkammavarlu (local deities) are the seven daughters of Lord Shiva, who are named as ‘Peddakka Pailadi’, ‘Chinnakka Sridevi’, ‘Raddanapu Kuranji’, ‘Kaanthanala Kaamakshi’, ‘Ontiki Sutthani’, ‘Pettu Poojakshi’, ‘Kadaguttu Nagamma’ are represented for seven lokas Devaloka, Gandharva loka, Swarga loka, Swarna loka, Vaikunta loka, Nagaloka and Indra loka respectively and came down to the Earth.

The Akkammavarlu (local deities) while searching a suitable place for their existence a Veda Brahmin who hails from Palakonda3 (name of a hill) came across and guided them to settle there. Akkammavarlu created two idols from their two drops of sweat and gave pranam (life) to them and named as ‘Kadireti Samulu’ and the other as ‘Sivanna Singiri’ (illiterates). Akkammavarlu wrote ‘Beejaksharas’ on their tongue to narrate the myths. Lord Shiva blessed them with an instrument (urumu), to play while narrating the myth of Akkammavarlu, goddess Saraswathi gave a boon to remember and narrate the myth throughout their lifetime and Lord Brahma blessed to take myth narration as their livelihood.

An important psychological process takes place in every Urumulavaru performance. It has got three phases namely, pre performance, performance, post performance. People who come with an individual mind-set (consciousness), by participating in the performance, a change takes place in them and they become part of the community mind-set (consciousness). They go out of the performance stage as new persons with a different world view that is communitarian in nature. This is observed from individua...

... middle of paper ...

...avaru narrates the myth, beating the ‘Urumu’ (a percussion instrument), which creates or produces thunder sounds. The performer follows the priest, local heads, the donors and the persons involved in the ritual process to various places by accompanying the instrument. The interviews with the active bearers and performers reveal their worldview and their commitment to the duties that they feel is very important. The interviews with their family members reveals the importance of the myth as an integral part of Urumulavaru life because, they will ensure a better future.

Works Cited

1 Gopinath Amalladinne, Janapada Kala Rupalu, P.9

2 Urumula Narayana, informant, 52 years, Mogilichetla palli, Mudigubba Mandal, Anantapur dist.

The Criterion: An International Journal in English

Bi-monthly Refereed & Indexed Open Access e-Journal

Open Document