In praise of the goddess within

Crossing boundaries of class and religion, the ritual of Attukal Pongala in Kerala is a testimony to the MotherGoddess. Acting as a link between the women of all communities and the Devi, the ritual is an unconscious creation of a new tradition, observes PEGJORDAN.

EVERY time I travel to a matrilineal society, I instantly know that something is different. Maybe it is the profound respect for life I feel when a community places its women in high regard. The state of Kerala has a long matrilineal history, meaning, the authority for ancestry, property and descent is through the woman's lineage. There's not too many of those around, believe me.

So what feels so different about matrilineal societies? You get a clue by observing where the lion's share of energy and resources is spent. You notice right away that instead of all the funding going toward government and military, the actions that nurture life get the attention. Now there's a switch.

There is also a gentleness and spirituality about community life. Kerala has a relatively low infant morality rate, and its literacy rate of 100 per cent is far above the average for the rest of India. The children and the elderly seem to be well cared for. And the women and the Goddess are the focal point of one of the grandest rituals of all time, the Attukal Pongala.

My friend Dr. Dianne Jenett, has for many years, been studying this massive ritual in which thousands of women of all ages, rich and poor, and every walk of life, spend several days preparing vast quantities of red rice into a sweet porridge out in the open for the Devi, or Mother Goddess. The ritual crosses all class boundaries, includes all religions, including Hindu, Christian, Muslim women, and seems to have a traditional link to the goddess and women's life cycle rituals of several neighbouring communities that wish to offer prayers of protection and ask for blessings on jobs, health, and family harmony.

Dianne says the belief is that the Devi comes out of her shrine and becomes one of the women participating in the Pongala. Dr. Elinor Gadon, author of The Once and Future Goddess, says, "You can sense the divine energy or shakti afoot because of the devotion with which the women go about this ritual."

What amazes me is that this is a fairly contemporary ritual, although every part of India is vibrant with long-standing devotional ceremonies to the Goddess. But this Pongala is a sort of unconscious creation of a new tradition, in which women - professionals, academics, business women, simple village women - turn out to cook and join in a sacred practice together. As if the sacred ritual is deep in their hearts and their bones, and they cannot resist it.

Dianne may have started as an outsider looking in, but the ritual soon got under her skin, and if she is not in India celebrating with the local women, then she is offering Pongala to the Goddess in her home in California.

Here are some more facts about Kerala, the Land of Green Magic, that National Geographic ranks as one of the "50 greatest places to see in a lifetime!"

- It is a land of equal distribution of wealth, or pretty close to it, anyway. Based in a century-old state policy that created the most even distribution of land ownership in India, Kerala enjoys an unusually even per capita income and high agricultural productivity. Thus, too, a local form of communism has been popular for decades.

- Family planning values have been effectively embraced and the State is approaching a much-needed zero population growth. The deep commitment to human needs is also reflected in the allotment of some 37 per cent of all tax revenues for health and education. Sounds like a kind of paradise to me, and the network of some 44 rivers makes the whole country into its own Venice of waterway transportation and beauty. If you make a visit, maybe you will see the ancient "Snake boat" rituals.

- The people are friendly and love to talk with tourists. When I was there, I took a long walk in the balmy evening air with several teenagers along the coast of the Arabian Ocean, sharing their passionate ideals about government, women's honoured roles and the long history of their State. We finished our walk at one of the many seafood restaurants, walking up to a second storey dining balcony to order various fish curries, as the sun set over this ancient land.

- Kerala's religious history is equally fascinating with a 2000- year-old Jewish settlement in the coastal city of Kochi where giant fishing nets are lowered by hand from immense wooden frames, as they have been for centuries, to scoop up the daily catch. A large Christian population dates nearly as far back too. Yet when Portuguese sailors landed there in the 1500s, these devout Christians had yet to hear of the Pope.

Looking healthy and radiant in Kerala is so natural, the preparations sound good enough to eat. Imagine a traditional hair oil created from plain or boiled coconut oil with a few peppercorns thrown in. Shampoo known as thaali is created from a soapy part of crushed hibiscus rose leaves. A potion of boiled rice broth is applied to the scalp to cure dandruff. Henna, mixed with amla (gooseberry, perhaps the most concentrated natural source of vitamin C on the planet) and beaten egg yolk makes a harmless hair dye that is very popular. Facial masks are whipped up from cucumber, sandalwood, papaya and pineapple juices and oils, made into delicate pastes, while skin moisturisers are in two forms: honey or tumeric.

Want to erase scarring? Try a paste of red sandalwood and honey applied twice a day for a month, as these women have been doing for centuries.

In the month of Dhanu (December-January) and for centuries, Kerala women have performed the Thiruvathirakali dance to celebrate the joys of marriage and as a feminine empowerment ritual. Offered to the Lord of love, Kamadeva, the dance is an expression of lasya, the amorous charm and grace of the Divine Feminine in human form. Even Lord Shiva, the great ascetic is moved by the pirouetting dance, detailed hand and facial gestures, bright hand claps and empassioned singing. The dance has become so popular in modern times that Kerala women perform it all year long.

I like to offer readers a way to support and enhance the community life of people I write about. A non-profit organisation called Abhaya which runs a refuge for women in distress, a day care and treatment centre for the mentally ill, a de-addiction programme, a home for abandoned children and a counselling centre is run by Sugata Kumari, an activist, poet and the head of the Women's Commission.

Read about her at: http://www.oneworld.org/ni/ issue275/ interview.htm.

Write to: Abhaya, Varada, Nandavanam, Thiruvananthapuram 696033, India.

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