Poleramma

What it is

Poleramma is a Hindu goddess linked to plague and smallpox. Her worship is concentrated in the villages of Andhra Pradesh, in southern India, and she belongs to the broad Devi category of goddesses. She is also described as a regional consort of Shiva. As a village deity, her task is to watch over the settlement. Shrines to her usually sit beyond the village boundary and are often roughly made from mud and stones. She is honoured in the form of a small stone linga, the aniconic shape associated with Shiva. Villagers also look to her in matters of cattle sickness, drought and everyday health.

Where it comes from

A story told about her describes Parvati drinking seven mouthfuls from a lake. That lake was no ordinary water: it carried the power of Lakshmi. Seven drops fell from Parvati's mouth, and from them came seven goddesses honoured as sisters in the countryside of Andhra Pradesh. Poleramma is counted among them. Their brother Pothuraju is said to stand guard over the group. The tale places her inside a family of rural deities rather than among the great temple gods.

How it is done

Village worship centres on the stone in its simple shrine. When a person recovers from smallpox, the community gives thanks on a set day, in a hut set aside for the purpose. The Poleramma Jatara, her festival, runs for three days. During it a buffalo is killed as an offering; the blood is caught in a pot and then scattered through the village.

Tools and materials

Her shrine is the main object of attention: a rough structure of mud and stones placed outside the village. Inside it she is represented by a small stone linga, the rounded pillar form through which Shiva is worshipped, and that shape ties the local goddess to her role as his regional consort. During the festival a pot holds the blood of the offered animal before it is carried around the settlement. Mud, stone and pot are the plain materials named in descriptions of her worship.

What it is for

People turn to Poleramma for the safety of the village and for health. She is held to govern smallpox and plague, and also cattle disease and drought, so appeals to her cover the wellbeing of households, animals and fields. Followers of Yanadi tradition hold that she sends smallpox when she is left without veneration, which makes her worship a matter of averting as well as thanking. The thanks come after a cure; the averting comes when illness is feared.

Peoples and places

Worship is mostly a village matter in Andhra Pradesh, where Poleramma is one of seven sister goddesses honoured across the countryside and where her brother Pothuraju is named alongside the group. The Yanadi community keeps its own tradition about her and smallpox. Elsewhere in South India she is associated with Mariamman, a goddess of Tamil Nadu.

What people believe

Behind the customs lies a household of deities. Poleramma is a Devi, a goddess, and a regional partner of Shiva, whose linga her stone stands in for. She is one of seven sisters, with Pothuraju as their guardian brother. Rural belief gives such goddesses power over fever, pox, rain and cattle, so honouring them is part of ordinary village life. The same power that brings illness is thought able to hold it back, and neglect is understood as an invitation to it.

When it is done

Two moments recur. Thanks are given on a fixed day once a person has recovered from smallpox, in a hut set aside for the purpose. The larger occasion is the Poleramma Jatara, which occupies three days and closes with an offering and a circuit of the village.

Compare and confuse

Poleramma is tied to two other figures. With Shiva she is a regional consort, and her stone linga echoes his form. With Mariamman of Tamil Nadu she shares a concern with smallpox, and the two are associated. In Andhra Pradesh she is one of seven sister goddesses, a group honoured together in the countryside. A newcomer may also meet her name written Polerammā.

Today

Worship remains a village practice in Andhra Pradesh. A murti of Poleramma, meaning a consecrated image, stands at the Beeramgunta temple in Nellore. The Poleramma Jatara is the occasion on which she is honoured, a three-day festival with an offering and blood scattered around the settlement.

Questions people ask about Poleramma

Good reading and sources

• Poleramma on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data