The Aindhuveetu Swamy temple is the favorite temple of Chettiyapathu Hindus. They belong to Yettezhuthu maarkam. There are six Gods inside the compound of this temple. The main God is the Aathiswamy. Aathiswamy likes to have meat offerings. And his favorite is the pig. At first, the cattle select as offering brings to in front of the shrine of Sri Periyaswamy. Then, the Annavi chant mandhra (paathappaal) in its ears. The Annavi who make pojas of this temple must be a nun. He may belong to any race. In front of the shrines of all Gods, Annavi spreads a red powder and draw the below image:
If we start with “Ha”, we can get the Pranava mandhra “HARI OHM RAMANUJAYA” of vainavas. They keep eight betel leaves in each edge of the diagram. In the center of the image, the devotees keep a bottle of Ale (saarayam) [now they offer coconut water with honey istesd of ale]. After the poja, ale and food distribute to the devotees. At night, people sleep around the temple.
In Yettezhuthu maarkam, people mixed from all races. They stand by “Unity is Strength”. The worship God by saying, “My God! Nothing is purer than you, you are in every place. Nothing is higher than you. You are our leader and I am your true devotee”. The Goddess is in the form of Shakthi. Shakthi worship is the method of vegetarians (saivargal). So, some of them of this maarkam called themselves as “Vainavargal”. Some of them has vainava names. They call some poja materials with different names.
NORMAL NAMES | NAMES BY VAINAVAS |
Ale | Theertham |
Pig | Leader, Aathi, Mirasu |
Skin | Shirt |
Goat | Nadaiyan |
Chicken | Keerikutty |
Pot | Paandam |
Rice | Annamuthiri |
Meat | Dhosam |
Bone | Karan |
Egg | Andam |
Fish | Macham |
Pusari | Annavi |
Padayal | Panividai |
The people of Yettezhuthu maarkam living in all districts. They gathered twice in a year for the carnival of the Aindhuveetu Swamy temple. The people belong to this maargam is uncountable.