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.
