Angalamma (and Pavadairayan)
Angalamma is an Amman, a Dravidian goddess or matriarchal ancestor spirit—one of many. She is remembered annually in the festival of Mayanakollai, a ceremonial “grave-robbing” ritual where townspeople take to the streets in various macabre costumes that celebrate death, the beyond, and their ancestors.
Angalamma here is picturized in a form outside of the Brahminized, fair-skinned idea of the divine feminine. She is portrayed triumphant over the head of Brahma, representing the quashing of the ego when one transcends the fear of death and the illusions of the self. On her lap is Pavadairayan, a warrior whose self-sacrifice immortalized him as Angalamma's spiritual heir and son.
Angalamma is an Amman, a Dravidian goddess or matriarchal ancestor spirit—one of many. She is remembered annually in the festival of Mayanakollai, a ceremonial “grave-robbing” ritual where townspeople take to the streets in various macabre costumes that celebrate death, the beyond, and their ancestors.
Angalamma here is picturized in a form outside of the Brahminized, fair-skinned idea of the divine feminine. She is portrayed triumphant over the head of Brahma, representing the quashing of the ego when one transcends the fear of death and the illusions of the self. On her lap is Pavadairayan, a warrior whose self-sacrifice immortalized him as Angalamma's spiritual heir and son.
Angalamma is an Amman, a Dravidian goddess or matriarchal ancestor spirit—one of many. She is remembered annually in the festival of Mayanakollai, a ceremonial “grave-robbing” ritual where townspeople take to the streets in various macabre costumes that celebrate death, the beyond, and their ancestors.
Angalamma here is picturized in a form outside of the Brahminized, fair-skinned idea of the divine feminine. She is portrayed triumphant over the head of Brahma, representing the quashing of the ego when one transcends the fear of death and the illusions of the self. On her lap is Pavadairayan, a warrior whose self-sacrifice immortalized him as Angalamma's spiritual heir and son.