Take a drive through rural Tamil Nadu and at the entrance to many villages, you will be greeted by colourful mud horses with fierce men riding atop them. What do these terracotta figures symbolise? This short video is about ancient village deities of south India; fearsome gods who protect, but are incredibly human as well. Listen to stories of how these village gods may have originated, and learn about the customs and beliefs they inspire to this day. This video takes you to an Aiyanar temple in a village called Keezha kuil kudi, on the outskirts of Madurai in south India.

Read more about the village Goddess Mariamman on our blog at https://www.storytrails.in/blog/maria...

Become a Storytrails member and get access to a host of benefits: https://www.youtube.com/@storytrailsc...

Support us on Patreon:   / storytrails_india  

If you liked this video, subscribe to our channel, and leave your comments below.

#Storytrails #ThreeMinuteStorytrails #FiveMinuteStorytrails #VillageGods #TamilNadu #Madurai #AncientGods #IndianGods #KeezhaKuilKudi #Mariamman #Aiyanar #Karuppusamy #TerracottaHorses #History #India #IncredibleIndia #Aadiperukku #VillageDeities

To experience more such stories of India, visit https://www.storytrails.in
Or visit https://www.storytrails.app to download the stories to your mobile phone.

Storytrails is an awardwinning organisation that designs storybased walking tours, audio tours, local experiences and online learning programmes showcasing stories of India.

Follow our work on
  / storytrails  
  / storytrails  
  / storytrails  
  / wwwstorytrailsin  

If you liked our video, you will love our book, The Temple of Treasures and Other Incredible Tales of Indian Monuments. Find out more here: https://storytrails.in/books

Do write in to us with your feedback and suggestions: [email protected]

Image and Photo Credits:

Village Gods: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiyanar..., Public Domain
Karuppu saami https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karuppu..., Public Domain
Punnainallur Mariamman :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punnain..., Public Domain
Mariamman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pr...
Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Fire walking Photo by Jonathan Choo via Straitstime: https://www.straitstimes.com/multimed..., https://desinema.com/wpcontent/uploa...
Mariamman bangles by Beeshma Acharya via Pinterest: @ls/c8/a5/95/c8a5954651e52cbb1d4858cf642d5045.jpg
Village Gods pictures: Rishwanth Jayaraj

Music Credits:
bensoundsunny music by http://www.bensound.com'>http://www.bensound.com
bensoundukulele music by http://www.bensound.com'>http://www.bensound.com

Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5050wholesome
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

Editing: Anand Gautam