Your have noticed that there is something different about this "housemaid's" preference for worship. She worships the "street corner mariamman". You presumably notice that this street corner mariamman exists because it is different. If you and your maidservant worshipped in the same place it would be unremarkable. It is remarkable only because it is different from your place of worship.
Actually, she was a Buddhist. But never mind that. So she does worship Mariamman. Pretty much similar to how the Palakkad line in my family has somehow become more deeply involved with Shaivite worship than the Tanjore line. There is no hierarchy that I am assuming. She worships Mariamman, my mother has a preference for Murugan. I am acknowledging that there is a difference - and am not exactly saying one is more mainstream than the other. Anyhow, some summers back, I spent an entire vacation attempting to just figure out who married whom, who died how, and how many children were had in each marriage - I could only go back eight generations - and even that uncovered some controversies. Unknown second wives emerged. Some parentage of another caste. The rice business that went bankrupt, and etc etc. I did all this sitting in Palakkad - and more than my grandparents, it was the neighbours that knew anyway. There is a deep "homogenous Hindu" in Thaths that he uncovers
(inadvertently?) in what he writes. That is why writing is so important, informative and fascinating. Thanks again for the gem. shiv
-- Neha Viswanathan +44(0) 77695 65886 London, UK http://withinandwithout.com | http://globalvoicesonline.org
