Essay name: Purana Bulletin
Author:
Affiliation: University of Kerala / Faculty of Oriental Studies
The "Purana Bulletin" is an academic journal published in India. The journal focuses on the study of Puranas, which are a genre of ancient Indian literature encompassing mythological stories, traditions, and philosophical teachings. They represent Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit and cover a wide range of subjects.
Purana, Volume 8, Part 1 (1966)
79 (of 340)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Jan. 1966] PARA艢UR膧MA 71 of Jamadagni's image. The image of Para艣ur膩ma is a singular
sculpture, representing him as holding a chau岣峣ki (musical instru-
ment), along with Para艣u and Tri艣奴la. The impress of the
Parasurama-cult in this part of Karnataka, as also in Ko峁卥a峁嘺,
is evident in its popularity among a section of people, who are
mostly non-Brahmans. They are known to dedicate themselves
to a life of celibacy and of worshipping Ellamm膩 and Para艣ur膩ma
in imitation of whom they carry the chau岣峣ki.
So far as the Tamil country is concerned Re峁噓k膩 is
worshipped as Mariyammana or M膩rik膩, the Goddess of small-
pox. In temples dedicated to her, only the head of the deity is
kept and this is explained by the story of Para艣ur膩ma beheading
his mother, at the behest of his father. Another story is also
narrated to explain her worship as the Goddess of measles. As
the great pativrat膩, Re峁噓k膩 entered the funeral pyre on the
death of Jamadagni and just as her body was about to be burnt
and had already become full of blisters, Indra quenched the
fire with showers and 艢iva ordained that she would be
the village deity presiding over small-pox. The sources for these
in Sanskrit Pur膩峁嘺s are yet to be traced.
and dynasties,
The laudatory descriptions of kings
especially of Western India, confirm the popularity of the
Para艣ur膩ma-tradition in this part of the peninsula. The legend
of Para艣ur膩ma is incorporated not only in describing the martial
exploit of kings but also in tracing the origin of dynasties. While
referring to the origin of the Chalukyan feudatories of the 12th
century, namely, the Bappura family or the Bali vamsa that
ruled over Kisuk膩岣� an inscription 46 speak of its ancestors as born
from the caverns (vala or bala) of Mount Ki峁indh膩 16a, in
45. I am thankful to Dr. V. Raghavan for giving me the information
about the Renuka-legends prevalent in Tamil country.
46. E. I., Vol. XV, 10 ff.
46a. For its identification, see p. 34, Geography of Ancient and Medieval
India'. D.C. Sircar; Pura峁嘺, Vol. IV, No. 2. (1962). The Geographical
text of the Puranas', C.A. Lewis.
