Goddess of misfortune discovered in Kolli hills
TIRUCHY: It was during one of his trips to Kolli Hills in Namakkal that V Palanichamy, Assistant Professor of History in Arignar Anna Government Arts College at Musiri, stumbled upon an idol, said to belong to 10th century Jyeshta Devi – the goddess of misfortune. She was worshipped primarily by women to keep their families away from any misfortune. As it was considered as an inauspicious goddess, people worshipped her far away from their settlements.
Palanichamy, who went to research on the social and cultural history of the indigenous tribe in Karaiyankadu near Semmedu in Kolli Hills, said,” I was discussing about the local deities and was led to Venkala Kaliamman, the tutelary goddess. On my way, I noticed the idol of Jyeshta under a tree.”
When asked how he ascertained the time period of the idol, he said, “The worship of Jyeshta is known from the inscriptions from 8th to 10th centuries. For example, an inscription in the Subramanya temple at Thirupparankunram near Madurai refers to the excavation of a cave temple by Sattan Ganapati, the minister of the Pandya King Maran Sadaiyan for Jyeshta in the year 773 AD. Likewise, the idol of Jyeshta Devi is present in one of sub-shrine in the north-west side within the Arappallishwarar temple at Kolli Hills, which was constructed during the reign of Uttama Chola during 970 to 985 AD.”
“The idol stood 67 cm in height and 60 cm in breadth. Jyeshta’s hair was braided and pinned on top of her head with a tilak on her forehead. She was accompanied by a bull-faced man her son Kuligan or Manthan and her daughter “Manthai” on the left and right. A crow was found sitting at the backdrop, due to which she was called as Kaakaikodiyaal (Kaakai meaning crow). She is also known as Mugadi, Kilati, Moodevi, Kakkai-k-kodiyaal, Kaludai Vahini, Settai, and Agalakshmi (goddess of evil),” he noted. He added that the discovery was shared with Department of Epigraphy in Mysore and the State Department of Archaeology to preserve the idol.