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MATANGI, THE GODDESS WHO LOVES POLLUTION
Once Parvati, seated on Shiva's lap, said to him that he
always gave her anything she wanted and that now she had
a desire to visit her father. Would he consent to her
visiting her father, Himalaya, she asked? Shiva was not
happy about granting her this wish but eventually
complied, saying that if she did not come back in a few
days, he would go there himself to ask for her return.
Parvati's mother sent a crane to carry Parvati back to
her family home. When she did not return for some days,
Shiva disguised himself as an ornament maker and went to
her father's house. He sold shell ornaments to Parvati
and then, seeking to test her faithfulness, asked that
she have sex with him as his payment. Parvati was
outraged at the merchant's request and was ready to
curse him, but then she discerned with her yogic
intuition that the ornament vendor was really her
husband, Shiva. Concealing her knowledge of his true
identity, she replied: "Yes, fine, I agree. But not just
now."
Sometime later, Parvati disguised herself as a huntress
and went to Shiva's home, where he was preparing to do
evening prayer. She danced there, wearing red clothes.
Her body was lean, her eyes wide, and her breasts large.
Admiring her, Shiva asked: "Who are you?" She replied:
"I am the daughter of a Chandala. I've come here to do
penance." Then Shiva said: "I am the one who gives
fruits to those who do penance." Saying this, he took
her hand, kissed her, and prepared to make love to her.
While they made love, Shiva himself was changed into a
Chandala. At this Point he recognized the Chandala woman
as his wife Parvati. After they had made love, Parvati
asked Shiva for a boon, which he granted. Her request
was this: "As you [Shiva] made love to me in the form of
a Chandalini [Chandala woman], this form should last
forever and be known as Uccishtha-matangini (now
popularly known as Matangi)."
The key to this legend is the essence of the word 'Chandala.'
The Chandalas are believed to constitute the lowest
strata of the caste hierarchy in orthodox Hindu belief.
Associated with death and impurity they have always
survived on the fringes of mainstream society.
Derogatory in the extreme sense, The label chandala
itself has become the worst kind of slur. Thus by
disguising herself as a Chandalini, Parvati assumes the
identity of a very low-caste person, and by being
attracted, Shiva allows himself to be identified with
her. Both deities self-consciously and willingly
associate themselves with the periphery of Hindu society
and culture. The Chandala identity is sacralized
therefore, in the establishment of Goddess Matangi. This
goddess summarizes in herself the polluted and the
forbidden.
Another myth related to Matangi reinforces this belief.
Once upon a time, Vishnu and Lakshmi went to visit Shiva
and Parvati. They gifted Shiva and Parvati fine foods,
and some pieces dropped to the ground. From these
remains arose a maiden endowed with fair qualities. She
asked for leftover food (uccishtha). The four deities
offered her their leftovers as prasada (food made sacred
by having been tasted by deities). Shiva then said to
the attractive maiden: "Those who repeat your mantra and
worship you, their activities will be fruitful. They
will be able to control their enemies and obtain the
objects of their desires." From then on this maiden
became known as Uccishtha-matangini. She is the bestower
of all boons.
This legend stresses Matangi's association with leftover
food, which is normally considered highly polluting.
Indeed, she herself actually arises or emerges from
Shiva and Parvati's table scraps. And the first thing
she asks for is sustenance in the form of leftover food
(uccishtha). Texts describing her worship specify that
devotees should offer her uccishtha with their hands and
mouths stained with leftover food; that is, worshippers
should be in a state of pollution, having eaten and not
washed. This is a dramatic reversal of the usual
protocols for the worship of deities. Normally, devotees
are careful to offer particularly pure food or food that
the deity especially likes. After the deity has eaten
it, the food is thought of as blessed and returned to
the worshipper to partake, and is believed to contain
the grace of the deity. The ritual give-and-take in this
case emphasizes the inferior position of the devotee,
who serves the deity and accepts the deity's leftover
food as something to be cherished. In the case of
Matangi however, worshippers present her with their own
highly polluted leftover food and are themselves in a
state of pollution while doing so.
In some rituals she is known to have been offered a
piece of clothing stained with the menstrual blood in
order to win the boon of being able to attract someone.
Menstrual blood is regarded as taboo in the performance
of religious functions, but in the case of Matangi these
strict taboos are disregarded, indeed, are flaunted.
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