Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Sudalai Madan

Sudalai Madan or Madan, is a regional Tamil male deity who is popular in South India, particularly Tamil Nadu. He is considered to be the son of Shiva and Parvati. He seems to have originated in some ancestral guardian spirit of the villages or communities in Tamil Nadu, in a similar manner as Ayyanar.

He is considered to be the son of Sivan and Parvati.

The story about Mada Samy tells of his birth on Kailasa, the mountain home of Siva and Parvathi. It is said that Devi Parvathi wanted a child, but Lord Siva had sworn celibacy. He had promised to be chaste at the request of the gods, since they had feared that his union with Parvathy would be so powerful it would shatter the universe. Siva suggests another way to have a child. He tells Parvathy to go to Patala Loka, the watery underworld, and to gather a spark from the sacred lamp that burns there. Parvathi did so, carrying the spark in the hem of her skirt.

When Parvathi Devi returned to Kailasa, she opened the folds of her skirt, and found that the spark had become a shapeless mass of tissue. she was really worried and pleaded shiva to give her a solution. Thus sudalai madan is often called as Mundan which means a person without head and other body parts. Siva asked Brahma to give the baby a shape. shiva gave life to the baby . He named him as sudalai madan because, he came to the world because of a lamp(sudar)and he was shapeless. The boy was blessed by everyone and he was brought up as their son.

Parvathi initially feeds the child on Amrita (the nectar of immortality), instead of on breast milk. So it is said that the child became immortal. However, the child also became desirous for solid food. He went to the cremation grounds ("sudalai") on Kailasa, and began to eat the bodies that were burning there. When he finished those, he began to eat everything around him, the other spirits, the animals, the trees, the ground itself etc. He feasted with a heavy appetite.

Because he ate so much, and since he had such a fondness for meat, it was decided that he ought not remain in Heaven. Siva instructed him to go to Earth, and to care for its people. Siva proclaimed that Mada Samy's protection and kindness would be re-paid with offerings of cooked food and drink, and thus he would always have a meal, as well as people who would pray to him. So Mada Samy came to earth, accompanied by a number of singers and dancers who were sent by Siva to see to his worship. Many of the Paraiyar and Kanniyar drummers who play during the rituals to Mada Samy claim descent from these divine musicians.

Madan is also popular amongst certain segments of the Tamil diaspora in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, RĂ©union and the French overseas territories in the Caribbean sea.
(courtesy: Wikipedia.org)