Ayyavazhi mythology
Ayyavazhi mythology is the mythology of the South Indian religious faith known as Ayyavazhi, which is officially considered a Hindu sect. The main source of Ayyavazhi mythology is the Ayyavazhi scripture, Akilathirattu Ammanai, and its supplement, Arul Nool. The Akilathirattu Ammanai is a recitation by Mayon to his consort Lakshmi. It is divided into three sections: Early Avatars, incarnational events and post-incarnational events.
Early Avatars
The early avatars are all those that occurred prior to the earthly incarnation of Mayon.The first six Yugas
The first Yuga was called Neetiya Yuga. During this time, divine, human and all other virtues flourished without hindrance. They did not fear demons, and there was perfect harmony among the creatures of the Universe, as well as among those who lived in the Fourteen Worlds. In this yuga, the king was righteous and did not oppress his people through taxes or other means.During this peaceful time, Kroni was born. Kroni, who is analogous to Satan in the Christian tradition, is a primordial personification of evil. Though Kroni is said to have been born with multitudinous limbs, each the size of a mountain, he nevertheless assumes different forms in different yugas: as Ravana or Duryodhana, for example. Likewise, Mayon also incarnates in different yugas as different Avatars: for example Rama or Krishna.
In order to quell the ravenous hunger in his stomach, Kroni drank all of the waters of the sea. With these waters being insufficient, he swallowed Kailayam, the abode of Sivan, and then proceeded to devour the entire universe. Akilam one: 440-446.
Mayon, residing with Sivan in Kailayam, escaped to undertake tavam and to receive permission from Sivan to destroy Kroni. Isvaran granted this permission, but made Mayon aware of the necessity to appear in different forms in the successive six yukams in order to destroy the Six Fragments of Kroni. Following this advice, Mayon sliced Kroni into six fragments and saved the universe. The first yuga thus came to an end.
In the second yuga, called Chathura Yuga, one of the six pieces of Kroni was formed into a creature named Kuntomasali. It had the shape and size of a mammoth leech, and when it disturbed the tavam of those in Tava lokam, Mayon destroyed the leech by catching it with a hook.
In the third yuga, called Netu Yuga, another fragment of Kroni created two wicked individuals called Thillaimallalan and Mallosivahanan. They ruled over the people by extracting Uliyam and Iraikal from them. When this exploitation became unbearable, the Devas complained to Sivan, who, in turn, commissioned Mayon to carry out the destruction of the wicked rulers, which he did.
The fourth yuga was called Kretha Yuga. The third fragment of Kroni was, again, made into two siblings, called Suraparppan and Sinhamuka Asuran, and they were given responsibility to rule the Earth. The wicked rulers began to crush the Devas, who reported it to Mayon. Mayon took the form of Arumugan, the Tamil name for Kartikeya, and advised the rulers to desist from their wickedness. However, when they arrogantly spurned his advice, Arumugan eliminated them. During the same Yuga, Suraparppan was created, this time as Iraniyan. Mayon, incarnated as the son of Iraniyan, challenged his authority and finally took on the therianthropic form of man and lion by piercing his stomach. On his deathbed, Mayon asked him to repent, but he replied arrogantly: "You cannot kill me. Only by placing ten mountains as ten nails might you kill me. Otherwise you can't."
In the ensuing yuga, called Thretha Yuga, Sivan, as per the request of Mayon, created the fourth piece of the primordial Kroni as a ten-headed mighty warrior, with the ten mountains as ten heads, naming him as Ravanan. He oppressed all those living on Earth by extracting Uliyam from them. He subdued all the earthly kings and made them pay tributes to him. Suffering under his oppression, the Devas sought the help of Mayon who, for the purpose of destroying him, took birth as Raman. On his death-bed, he repented, saying: "Only with the help of my brother were you able to destroy me." With this episode of killing Ravanan, Thretha Yuga came to an end.
In the sixth yuga, called Dwapara Yuga, the fifth fragment of Kroni was portioned into a hundred pieces, and made into Duriyodhanan and ninety-nine brothers to support him. The three brothers of Raman, along with Vibushanan and Sampoovan of the preceding epoch, were created as Pancha Pandavas in this aeon. The wicked Duriyodhanan was killed by the Pancha Pandavas, with the support of Mayon, who came in the form of Krishna. Even at the brink of death, Duriyodhanan refused to repent, saying that "only with your cunning mind were you able to defeat me, and otherwise not." Mayon then told him: "You will be created with knowledge, intelligence, and artistic skill in the next Yukam, and if you do not repent in that age, that will be your eternal annihilation." Having said this, Mayon went to Srirangam and dwelt there.
The Santror
Towards the end of Dvapara Yuga, Thirumal, with the aid of Seven Virgins, had begotten seven sons, known as the Santror Makkal, in order to accomplish the task of destroying the Kalineesan and Kali mayai that were to be countered in the following Kali Yuga.After the birth of Santror, they were all named by conducting a naming ceremony and fed with celestial nectar. The Santror were raised by Bhadrakali and married to the daughters of Nirupathirajan.
Kalineesan, Kali Yuga, and Kalimayai
The sixth fragment of the primordial Kroni was Neesan, the epitome of wickedness. Neesan was created in the form of a male human being who was wise, beautiful and intelligent. Neesan pushed himself out of the earth in an inverted form. Upon seeing his appearance, the celestial diviners predicted that he, being without normal human parentage, would have an undefined and rude physique, and that his intelligence and five senses would be rooted in falsehood. They further predicted that he would have a life as fragile as that of a bird, but he would unleash wickedness on people with arrogance.Having obtained innumerable boons, including the Chakra of Mayon and invincibility, Neesan proceeded to earth to rule over the people. On his way, he was accosted by Thirumal, who appeared as a Pantaram, with long flowing unkempt hair and torn clothes. Thirumal challenged him to a duel which Neesan refused, considering it beneath his dignity to fight with a Pantaram coming in such an attire without any weapon. Taking the opportune moment, Thirumal shrewdly made Neesan promise to forfeit all his boons if any of his lies caused trouble to any Pantaram on earth in the future. Then, he bought the Chakra from Kaliyan and cursed it as money. The money asked Thirumal when this curse would leave it, to which Thirumal replied: "It will leave you when Kali is defeated".
The Neesan was thenceforth called Kalineesan because the Kali Yuga had dawned along with his birth. Along with him was born an evil force called Kali Mayai.
Kali Maya engulfed the whole world and consequently, deceit and illusion began to contaminate the minds of the people. Age-old traditions and conventions, based on Dharmam, were unduly overthrown. Kalineesan introduced the discrimination of caste among the people. The powerless people were crushed with brute might. People, caught in the Kalimayai, began to be inimical towards one another - men against women, children against parents, and so forth. People used demonic force to harm one another. Kalimayai captured the king of Thiruvitankur and began to rule over the people as their king.
Thirumal in Thiruvananthapuram
Thirumal, dwelling at Sri Rangam hitherto, found it unworthy of his abode because of the misdeeds of the priests there. He shifted his tent to Thiruvananthapuram. When he reached there, a Pulayar woman saw him and spread the news to one and all. Hearing of this, Kalineesan constructed a temple of fine granite at the site where the Pulayar woman spotted Tirumal, and decorated the temple with gold and pearls. The king instituted scores of rituals and ceremonies at the temple to be performed by Namboothiri Brahmins. The lights of the temple were, however, lit daily from a torch brought from the home of the Pulayar woman.Venneesan
had no children, so he went on a pilgrimage to Kasi, a holy place, and stood in tavam for a son. While performing the tavam, he was distracted by the scene of a cleric embracing a woman. Because of this, Kalineesan's semen came out and fell into the water. A white crane came and swallowed the semen, became pregnant, and delivered a baby boy in the water. A sage, Punal Rhishi, took the baby, which was white in appearance, and looked after it.Kalineesan, his tavam being defective, returned to his country in despair, resigned to a prediction that even if he were to have a son, it would be only the sons of his sister who would rule the country.
The baby, delivered by the white crane, grew up and came of age, and was married in the land of Chenkomatti. He prospered there with his progeny, who later emerged as a powerful people by learning the skills of ship-travel, trading in gold and silver, and diplomacy. This people, called Venneesa kulam, propagated a religion of their own, and through the lure of money gained many new members. Venneesan introduced a new calendar.
Santror in Kali Yuga
Kalineesan, coming to know about the valour and loyalty of the Santror people, appointed them as his bodyguards. It so happened that one day, while guarding the entrance of the king’s room, the body-guards happened to fall asleep, during which time, the enemies of the king, hailing from the king’s own race, entered the room and assassinated the king. The Kalineesan, while succumbing to the murderous attack, mistaking it to be a betrayal by the body-guards, cursed them that they and their progeny would be oppressed with oozhiyam and regressive taxation as long as the king’s dynasty ruled the country.The curse of the king began to take effect on the Santror. The Kalineesan, the successor of the previous king, imposed innumerable taxes on every article used by the Santror for their day to day living. Their occupational implements, the palmyra trees that supported them, and every item of the produce of these trees were punitively taxed. The produce of the palmyra trees was to be given to the high castes, failing which the Santror were tortured with corporal punishments. There were many arbitrary taxes imposed on them. The Santror found no favour with the rules, in spite of paying these cruel taxes.