Mariyamman

Mariyamman is one of the famous goddess worshipped mainly in south india. ‘Amman’ in tamil means ‘Mother’, “Mari” means rain. Put together, meaning of ‘Mariamman’ is supposed to be the goddess of rain. This Goddess is worshipped commonly in south Indian states like Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and some parts of Kerala too. Mother ‘Mari’ is related to our well known goddess Durga devi. Mariyamman is usually represents as an attractive lady with red dress. The word ‘mari’ has one more meaning, that is associated with disease "Pox". People considers Mariyamman as the goddess of the diseases like pox, small pox and chicken pox. The main remedy she advises for these diseases is the liquid mixture of neem and turmeric powder. We can see most of the mariyamman temples in rural areas or villages. there are non Brahmin poojaries for everyday pooja. In some temples, mariamma has no form and is only represented by a stone, with a lemon garland.