All over the state of Tamil Nadu, many villages worship their own deities, and in particular the mysterious Ayyanar god. He is believed to protect the villages by riding at night a big white horse or white elephant, to keep the evil spirits away, as well as ensuring good crops and enough rain. Such deities are not part of the traditional Hindi pantheon of gods, but they allow villagers to have a personal connection with their own divinity.
Lord Ayyanar is a big red fellow, with an impressive black moustache. While standing next to his white stallion, he wields a big blade. Often, by him, is his aide Karuppusamy, dark skinned, often with a tiger by his side. Occasionally, he will also be shown with his two wives, standing either side of him: Purana (holding a blue lotus) and Pushkala (holding a noose).
(Don’t forget to click to blow up the images)
Which brings us to the terracotta horses, found at shrines or temples where they worship Lord Ayyanar. These are to be found outside the villages or the small towns. You have to look around to spot the places, as they can be hidden behind trees or out of the way, and not sign posted. There are many in Chettinad.
The horses are votive figures, which can be as high as 6 meters, though they are more typically around 1 meter high. There are also small elephants, cows, and votive figures of people, all brightly painted.
I went to visit a priest-potter, in the back alley of a poor village. Every year he builds these clay figures, ordered months in advance by the devotees.
A normal size horse takes about a week to make. A tall one can take up to a month. They are made in a single piece, rather than in truncated forms that are then assembled. They are then put into these crude ovens, that burn palm tree trunks, for over a day. Of course, given the size, this is just enough to keep them standing for the occasion, though not enough to enable them to weather many monsoon seasons. So, over time, they will decay, break up and crumble. But maybe that is precisely the idea, as the offerings are for the year to come and not beyond. Fresh new offerings are to be made each year for the forthcoming season.
Indians love festivals, as they bring all the villagers and townspeople together to ‘animate’ (bring alive) their mythological landscape. So it goes with Lord Ayyanar. Between April and August, a committee of wise men, astrologers and priest-potters, decide when to hold their festival. The potters are significant here because they are considered to “convey the desire of man toward the god”.
On the chosen day, the devotees bring their clay offerings to the shrine. It is their way of asking Lord Ayyanar for a good harvest and sufficient rainfall to ensure the prosperity of all. A chicken is sacrificed and its blood is applied to the forehead of a terracotta horse, to bring it alive. Every clan member will offer his clay figure, which are often these curious, funny, wonderfully joyful terracotta horses, newly made for the occasion and painted with bright colours. On the day, they will be garlanded with flowers. The offerings of the previous year(s), are pushed back to make room for the new ones, or will simply stand behind the new row created for this year’s creations.
They are quite a sight and though just objects, they exude a joyful, exuberant air that makes them really attaching. I would just love to own one of these. But not only are they hard to come by, save for a client’s premature death or other demise that prevented him to take delivery, they also are very fragile and thus difficult to transport.