Kadambagudi Ulagammal

Kadambagudi Ulagammal

By

P.R.Ramachander

Kadambagudi is ten km from Thondi of Ramanatha puram district. Ulagammal of that place is not a statue/idol but a trident.
Once king Sethupathi was returning from a hunting expedition. Then he saw a trident and a lemon fruit floating in the sea. The king asked his assistant to get it from the sea. Though he failed 2 times, in the third time he was successful. The king did not want to take the trident home but he simply made it stand in the mud near Kadambagudi.
Later on the people came to know that this trident was Ulagammal who was worshipped by Dalits in a place called Uppur. Some people in Uppur were told in their dreams that she has established herself in Kadambagudi. The people decided to respect the action of Ulagammal and along with families would visit her in Kadambagudi along with family in the month of Avani (August-September) The people of Kadambagudi brought a Pathinettampadi Karuppan from the next village and made him as security to Ulagammal. The Chamiyadi for both Ulagammal and Pathinettampadi Karuppan are Dalits of the village. Some higher caste people who were engaged in making pots for preparing pongal for Ulagammal , were offended by this. So they did some magical rites so that Ulagammal will enter them and they would be Chamiyadis. They made the magicians tie Ulagammal. Troubled by magic Ulagammal destroyed the roof of her temple and went away through that hole. She killed the magicians , put their guts as garland and started going round holding their heads in her mouth. She cursed the man who brought the magician that they and all the members of their family would stutter. This is found to be true even today. From this time no body lock the temple of Ulagammal. It is always open. She also wanted that her roof should be made of palm leaf. So now though they have built a temple for her, the roof for the trident (Ulagammal) is made of palm leaves only.
In the month of Avani (august-September) there is a ten day festival for Ulagammal. As soon as the festival starts, the trident is brought and kept in her temple. The priest after blind folding himself, takes out a snake from the pot and leaves it in her temple. What is strange is no body is able to see the serpent in the hands of the priest. Now instead of a pot, they put the serpent in a wooden box kept at the temple. On the eighth day the Chamiyadis of Ulagammal and Karuppan go jumping and dancing to the sea. Here they take three times dip in the sea. After the third dip, the people drag them to the sea shore. This is because once the Chamiyadis were swept by the sea after the third dip. They return at night around 3 Am. A pit of burning fire is kept ready. They enter the pit and come out. People ask them questions of the welfare of the village and themselves and the Chamiyadis answer them. With this ends the eighth day festivities. On the ninth day pongal is prepared in forty pots and offered to Ulagammal. A part of is made in to small balls and thrown to the lame ghosts(Nondi pisasu). It seems , if this is not done, the Chamiyadis are troubled by the ghosts. It seems once a pregnant woman hid behind a tree and was trying to find out where this balls offered to lame ghosts go,. She had a miscarriage and died at that spot.
On tenth day two goats are sacrificed to Ulagammal and Karuppan. The Chamiyadis drink the blood of the goats which are sacrificed. The Chamiyadi of Ulagammal tears open the stomach of the goat, and wears its gut and dances in memory of the incident narrated earlier.
Ulagammal it seems saves the life of the husbands of the village woman. She also fulfils the desires of all the villagers.