Angala Devi
| Angala Parameshvari Amman | |
|---|---|
| Member of Matrikas | |
 A statue of Angala Parameshvari Amman at Melmalayanur Angala Parameshvari Amman Temple | |
| Other names |
|
| Venerated in | Tamils in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Indian Subcontinent, Fiji, Caribbean Tamil Communities, South Africa, Mauritius, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Guyana, Vietnam, Trinidad & Tobago |
| Associate | Shiva |
| Abode | Melmalayanur |
| Weapon | |
| Adherents | Hindus |
| Mount | Lion |
| Temples |
|
| Consort | Shiva[1] |
Angala Devi, also known as Angala Amman and Angala Parameshvari, is a form of the Hindu goddess Parvati, primarily worshipped in the villages and cities of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry as a kaval deivam, a guardian goddess. She is known as a form of the Matrikas.[2]
History
Angalamman is a form of Goddess Parvati. This form of Parvati is more popular in Southern Indian Subcontinent. This is a fierce form of Goddess Parvati and she is also a guardian deity in many villages.
It is known that Goddess Parvati took the form of Angalamman to help Shiva rid of the Kapala of Brahma that was following him after He cut off the fifth head of Brahma.
In Hindu mythology, Shiva took the form of Bhairava and cut off the fifth head of Brahma for being arrogant about His creation. Brahma had no remorse about the suffering that living beings had on earth.
But soon Shiva felt remorse and for destruction of his chaos, Brahma had remorse about suffering of living beings in Earth and cured them and then Brahma told Shiva to become a wandering ascetic as Bhikshatana and beg for food in his skull.
In the story of Angalamman, the fifth head of Brahma started following Shiva. The fifth head of Brahma made his home in the arm of Shiva and started eating whatever Shiva received from begging.
Goddess Parvati decided to destroy and return the Kapala of Brahma to Brahma himself. On the tellings of Vishnu, she prepared a food made of both Hummingbird tree leaves and Chicken meat for Shiva at Melmalayanur, Tamil Nadu, India, Indian Subcontinent. Shiva came to eat the food of Hummingbird tree leaves and Chicken meat. Goddess Parvati intentionally scattered this food made of Hummingbird tree leaves and Chicken meat around the place on the ground and the Kapala of Brahma came down to eat them leaving the hand of Shiva and ate all food made of Hummingbird tree leaves and Chicken meat. Goddess Parvati took this time and took the fierce form of Angalamman and crushed down the Kapala of Brahma using her left and right legs and shattered it and the Kapala of Brahma is then fused to Brahma by Brahma himself and he got his five heads gloriously present and Brahma became one headed gloriously, after which Angalamman took her true form of Parvati and Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Sarasvati, Lakshmi, Parvati went to their own respective heavens of Satyaloka, Vaikuntha, Kailasha respectively.
The most famous temple dedicated to Angalamman is the Sri Angala Parameshvari Temple at Melmalayanur in Senji Taluka in Villupuram District in Tamil Nadu, India, Indian Subcontinent.
See also
Notes
- ^ The Pink Line: The World's Queer Frontiers. Profile. 2 July 2020. ISBN 9781782837008.
- ^ Poston, Larry (10 March 2015). "Book Review: One God, Two Goddesses, Three Studies of South Indian Cosmology". Missiology: An International Review. 43 (2): 223–224. doi:10.1177/0091829615569146b. ISSN 0091-8296. S2CID 163894459.
References
- W.T. Elmore, Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism.
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