இலஙகயன மலயகத தமழரகளம பண தயவ வழபடம / The Malayaga Tamils of Sri Lanka and Goddess Worship

In the 18th century, the British conquered various underdeveloped South Asian countries and brought them under their rule. When they tried to produce cash crops in the countries they conquered, the major problem they faced was the shortage of labour. The British identified India as the leading country in solving such a labour shortage. Due to the prevailing conservative caste restrictions in Tamil Nadu, there was a situation where not everyone could do all the jobs. Due to the lack of jobs, the people were living a miserable life in poverty. In addition, the Kanganis (Supervisors), agents of the British rulers, brainwashed the lower classes, who were living in disgust due to the oppressive methods of the Westerners, caste atrocities, and a lifestyle devoid of basic amenities, and took them to countries like Mauritius, Fiji, the Andaman Islands, Malaysia, and Singapore as wage laborers and settled them. The Tamils who were brought to Sri Lanka and settled in the hilly areas of this country are called ‘Malayaga Tamils’. Although they were initially referred to as ‘Sri Lankan Tamils of Indian origin’, later, after they received permanent citizenship rights to live in Sri Lanka, they were called ‘Malayaga Tamils’ and ‘Malayaga Tamil community’. Such Malayaga Tamils did not lag in following the cultural traditions of their homeland even in the country where they settled. The worship system initiated by the Tamils of the upcountry was a rural worship system that was not based on the Agamas. However, in later times, many of the deities worshipped by them were absorbed into the Agama-based system and became widespread. Nowadays, both Agama-based and non-Agama-based worship systems are practised by the people of the upcountry. Among them, the worship of female deities is of great importance. In this way, in the upcountry, deities such as Mari, Kali, Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Nondichiamma are worshipped as embodied female deities, and deities such as Uthamma, Ezhukanni, Elakathal, Katteri, and Kattumariamman are worshipped as immaterial female deities. Among these deities, it can be observed that the worship of Muthumariamman is carried out as a clan deity, to the extent that the upcountry culture is called the Mariamman culture. This study has been conducted based on field research approaches and categorisation and synthesis research approaches to investigate such hill goddesses and their worship methods.