Deities in Martinique

“The absence of Sanskritic gods is probably related to the overwhelmingly Sudra and Dalit origin of Martinique East Indians, who were denied entree to the worship of Brahma, Vishnu, etc, in the villages across South India from which they came.

Many informants identified their parents as Pariah, Patachi, Tulkechi, and Pandaron.

Although each of the seven temples in Martinique may contain as many as twenty images of the deities, only three, the ones invoked during the temple ceremonies, are found universally. These are Marie-aimee, Maldevidan, and Munadian. (A fourth deity, Naga-rumida, is propitiated with a special sacrifice at home.) Marie-aimee is a variant of Mariamma, perhaps the most prominent of the South Indian devotees, especially associated with disease. In Martinique she is always painted yellow and is often multi-handed. Maldevidan, an equestrian figure, usually with sword in hand, is probably derived from Madurai Viran, who is reported to be an attendant deity in Tamil villages, the one to whom the sacrifices are often directed.

In Martinique the sacrifices are performed outside the temple, where they are directed to Munadian, who is represented by a simple stone, usually unpainted, and occasionally with no anthropomorphic depiction at all. In the Tamil-speaking region of India, Munadian is reported to be an attendant deity, serving the higher (caste) gods.

Each temple contains a number of other deities, generally referred to by the Creole words zange and bon di, "religious statue.'' Among these are Katarai, Tanonmadiri, Katan, Amigani, Kali, Mariai, Virai, Shukarrama, Bouminaman, Sida Laitchini, Kariai, Samaki, and Anibal. Six of the Martinique temples are on lands donated by the estate owners to their Indian laborers. Each temple has a sexton who is charged with keeping it clean and seeing that the oil lamps are filled and burning.”

-The Worship of South Indian Deities in Martinique, Michael M. Horowitz

(Important note from Esha: Knowledge, perception, and vilification of local/regional deities are dictated by dominant/oppressor castes, Indo-Aryan, and Brahminical supremacy narratives).