On the narrow Shivapada Veedhi near the famed 7th Century Arunachaleswara Temple, built by the Pallavas, in the bustling Tiruvannamalai town, V.C. Manikandan, a skinny 44-year-old man, is usually busy counting rows of fresh milk sachets and ice cream cups in his small milk parlour. His nephew, M. Ravishankar, 25, a graduate, would jot down the numbers on a notebook.
Their job remains the same except on the day of Maha Deepam every year. Manikandan and Ravishankar hail from the fishermen community that for ages has been entrusted with the task of lighting the copper cauldron atop the 2,668-foot-high Annamalai Hills on Maha Deepam, the final day of the Karthigai Deepam festival. “We don’t know when this practice started, but we have been doing this for generations with devotion. As you know, it is not an easy task,” says Mr. Manikandan, a father of two.
The Paruvatha Raja Kulam, to which he belongs, was a local fishermen community that does fishing mainly in inland waterbodies like rivers, lakes, and ponds. They were tasked with laborious temple works since time immemorial.
“Historically, they were referred to as Sivapadavar (ardent followers of Lord Shiva) in Tamil regions centuries ago. Over time, the term changed into Sembadavar, which also refers to the local fishermen, who were entrusted with certain temple tasks,” explains K. Sridaran, a retired Deputy Director of the Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department (TNSAD).
First catch
According to a legend, Athipattha Nayanar, one of the 63 Nayanmars (Saiva saints), belonged to the fishermen community in coastal Nagapattinam. It was said that when he went fishing every day, he would free his first catch in the name of Lord Shiva. One day, he netted a golden fish. Without bothering about the value of the gold, he released the fish into the water for his beloved God. Pleased with his devotion, Lord Shiva appeared before him, goes the legend.
An inscription found by archaeologists of the Archaeological Survey of India at the Chola-era Thiyagarajaswamy temple at Thirukkuvalai village (the birthplace of the former Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi) refers to a fisherman named Allan, who made a bronze image of Athipattha Nayanar and gifted 2,100 kasu (coins) for the worship of the bronze image. Later, the image was kept in the temple and was worshipped. The inscription was from the period of Raja Raja Chola-III in 1220 A.D. In the inscription, the local fishermen were referred to as Sivanpadavar (ardent devotees of Lord Shiva).
This inscription was copied by the Epigraphy Wing of the ASI and published in the ASI’s annual manual in 1950-51. Decades later, the TNSAD published the details of the inscription in its annual publication, titled ‘Nagapattinam District Inscriptions’, in 2007. “It is an ancient way of division of labour. In temples in Nagapattinam, the Melmanur temple near Gingee and even the Velankanni church, certain tasks were entrusted to fishermen for ages. Maha Deepam in Tiruvannamalai may be one among them,” says S. Ranjith, an archaeologist.
The right of the sons
Last week, Mr. Manikandan and his 20-member team , belong to the fishing community, climbed the 7-km-steep hillock on a cloudy evening, a day before Maha Deepam. Only sons are allowed to inherit the tradition of climbing the hillock and lighting the fire. They justify the tradition by saying it helps to preserve the ‘purity’ of the lineage to do the beloved task. No specific age has been stipulated. The town has around 2,000 persons of the community, who mostly reside around the temple. “Despite belonging to the fishermen community, we go in for a vegetarian diet, especially during the Tamil month of Karthigai. Also, we do fasting for 48 days and depend only on salt-free food and liquid diet for Maha Deepam,” says T. Jothi Lingam, a youngster of the community.
Divided into small teams, they carry the five-foot-tall cauldron, which weighs 175 kg, 750 kg of ghee, 10 kg of camphor, and around 300 metres of cotton cloth (as the wick) to light the Kopparai (cauldron) on the day of Maha Deepam. A 15-foot-long bamboo stick is used to light the fire because of the extreme heat generated around it. Every year, around 2,500 persons, including women, are allowed to climb the hillock to witness the event. However, only around 150 persons, mostly policemen and persons from the fishermen community, are allowed near the cauldron. Around 20 persons from the community are entrusted with the task of lighting the fire. A few of them stay atop the hillock during the Maha Deepam day, while the others climb down at night.ś
For 11 days after Maha Deepam, the other teams carry the same amount of ingredients to the hillock to keep the fire burning. The accumulated sacred ash, which is distributed to devotees after three months, is collected by the team once in three days and brought back to the temple. The ritual is repeated each year with the same vigour and devotion. “My 12-year-old son wanted to climb the hillock with me for Maha Deepam. But I told him to wait for a few more years to inherit our heritage,” says Mr. Manikandan.
