Korravai

Kotravai (Koṟṟavai), is the goddess of war and victory in the Tamil tradition. She is also the mother goddess and the goddess of fertility, agriculture, and hunters. In the latter form, she is sometimes referred to by other names and epithets in the Tamil tradition of South India and Sri Lanka, such as Atha, Mari, Suli, and Neeli.^[1][2] She is the form of the primordial Shakta goddess Parvati.^[3]

Goddess Korravai, a form of the Hindu goddess Parvati and a revered deity in Tamil Hindu culture, is depicted atop the beheaded head and body of the slain buffalo-demon Mahishasura. This relief carving, originally from the remnants of a magnificent 10th-century CE Tamil Hindu temple, is now located within the Nayakar Palace Art Museum, Madurai.

Korravai at Brihadishvara Temple, Thanjavur

Korava Idal (Malayalam: കുരവ ഇടൽ) and Kulavai Idal (Tamil: குலவை இடல்) refer to the traditional practice of ululation as a war cry or call to victory in Dravidian cultures. Historically associated with battle and triumph, this ritual ululation is a significant cultural expression in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Today, it is commonly performed during celebratory occasions such as weddings, housewarmings, and other festive events.^[4]

She is among the earliest documented goddesses in the Tamil Sangam literature, and also found in later Tamil literature. She is mentioned in the many poems in Paripāṭal , though the dedicated poem to her in among those that are being discovered in history.^[5][6] She is mentioned in the Pattuppattu anthology – the long Tamil poems dated between 300 BCE to 300 CE, including the Neṭunalvāṭai, Maturaikkanci, Poruṇarāṟṟuppaṭai, and Paṭṭiṉappālai.^[7] In the Tamil epic Silappadikaram (c. 2nd-century), she is said to be the goddess of the Pālai region.

Her name is derived from the Tamil word korram, which means "victory, success, bravery".^[8] The earliest references to Kotravai are found in the ancient Tamil grammar Tolkappiyam, considered to be the earliest work of the ancient Sangam literature.

She is also seen as a mother goddess, a symbol of fertility and success in agriculture.^[9] Traditional rural communities offer the first harvest to her.^[10] As war goddess who is blood thirsty, some texts such as the Silappadikaram and Agananuru mention that warrior devotees would, in a frenzy, offer their own head to the goddess.^[10]

Standing Durga-Korravai in Varaha Mandapam.

In Tamil Nadu, the blackbuck (Kalaimaan) is considered to be the vehicle of the Tamil goddess Korravai ^[11][12] She is sometimes shown as riding a lion, as in the 7th-century mandapam of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu. Both the lion and blackbuck is shown with a standing Korravai in a rock-relief panel at the Varaha Mandapam of Mahabalipuram.^[13]

She is depicted as a deity with several arms holding different weapons. She is said to be the real mother of the Tamil Hindu god Murugan and her other children with Shiva as a form of Parvati. Sacrifices of animals and plants and dancing rituals are a part of the worship of this goddess.