Topic started by Punnagaikkatha MMC (@ netcache.spectranet.com) on Thu Feb 27 12:54:13 .
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hehe....
This is a copy thread started to enable those who want to argue here freely!
:-))
Well, as I have said in the original thread about Avvaiyar, it is a common term denoting the elderly-scholarly-Tamil women of Tamilnadu.
These women have been poets,religious leaders,advisors of kings and leaders in all fields.
In our house we make a 'Sevvai Pillayar'.This particular festival is solely for women only and is celeberated by the women in seclusion.
It is said that Avvaiyar taught this Ganapathy Worship(seethakalaba senthamarai -avvaiyar's pattu on Ganesh).For this worship the women make delicacies out of rice and coconut kernels and steam it in Vaikal(straw or rice).
Mornings, we are given this dish secretly (as this dish as well as the festival is the exclusive domain of women, men are not allowed to even take this prasadam.But we being kids, were allowed and this used to be one of my fav items once).
In Nagerkoil there is a Avvaiyar Temple.But in many places these Avvaiyar Temples have merged with other female demigod temples and we have forgotten them.
The Sangam poems show one Avvaiyar who intervenes on behalf of Adiyaman(who lived in Thiruvannamalai area probably) and saves his daughters.
There is another song of one Avvaiyar which details out various yogic methods.Probably these elderly females were thorough with the religious practices also in the olden times.In this song, there is a mention:
'Kundalini athanil koodiya asabai , kaalal eluppum karutharivithey '
Even in north India, i am not aware that any women talked about the yogic serpent power(kundalini) or the methods of raising that(kaal - breath, this denotes pranayama for raising the kundalini as mentioned by Thirumoolar).P.N.Kumar, an old forumhubber has written in detail abt this stanza.
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