Alagu Sevai
Alagu Seva is a special ritual event of Devanga People.[1] Deities used to wound themselves by holy sword ("Katthi") by saying "Theesukko Thaye", "Thegadhuko Thaye", "Tho parak, Thali parak". It is done by Devanga Men without any age difference. It is believed that their ancestors used to follow this method to invoke the deity Sri Ramalinga Sowdeswari Amman . Following them, Nowadays these people are invoking Sowdeswari Amman by this method. Pandaram (Holy Turmeric mixture) is applied among the wounds so as to protect from infections. In this modern days young Devanga people used to perform some Ritual dance by this holy swords. Except Devanga, other people are not allowed to touch the Holy Sword and to perform this Ritual. It is also known as "Alagu Seva", "Katthi Haakkadhu". The one who perform this tradition is called Veera Kumar.[2]
History
King Devdas, the seventh incarnation of Devala built a beautiful Temple for Sri Ramalinga Sowdeswari Amman. He invited the goddess to the temple but in the way she disappeared in Water, so the soldiers along with Devdas wounded themselves with swords, suddenly the goddess appeared and join them.[3]
References
- "ராமலிங்க சௌடேஸ்வரியம்மன் கோயில் கும்பாபிஷேகத்தையொட்டி கத்தி போடும் நிகழ்ச்சி". தினமணி (12 மே, 2016)
- "அலகு சேவை". www.devangakula.org.
- "Course listing" (PDF). www.tamilvu.org. Retrieved 15 June 2019.