I recently visited DakshinaChitra again. There is so much to see here, one visit is not nearly enough. This time, their Ayyanar statuary collection caught my eye. Lord Ayyanar is a Hindu village god, worshipped predominantly in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in Tamil villages in Sri Lanka. He is primarily worshipped as a guardian deity who protects the rural villages. His priests are usually non-Brahmins, who belong to mostly the potter caste, but other caste members also officiate in his temples. The temples of Ayyanar are usually flanked by gigantic and colorful statues of him and his companions riding horses or elephants.
The Tamil word Ayyanar (or Aiyanar) is derived from the root word Aiyā which is a title often used by Tamils, Malayalees and Telugus to designate ‘respectable’ people. The word derives from the Proto-Dravidian term denoting an ‘elder brother‘. It is used in that meaning in various South Indian states. Yet some derive the word Aiyā as a Prakrit version of the Sanskrit word ‘Aria’ which means 'noble’.
Interior South Indian villages often exist outside the reach of the central government. Yet for countless generations they have functioned well and effectively based on an emphasis on civic duty, and codes of honor and respect. It is not necessarily a utopian model as we commonly see it in modern communism. Though there are such elements inherent here as well. But rather than an emphasis on a nameless state, it’s power derives organically from an acceptance of the wisdom of elders who perpetuate an appreciation for strict ancestral lineage.
As the agrarian villages have prospered, the Ayyanar statuary came to be painted in bright, modern colors. The DakshinaChitra collection adheres to the older version in which color has yet to been introduced.
Peter Koelliker; pkoelliker8@yahoo.com
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