Valli - The Birth of The Goddess

The Birth of The Goddess

In ancient times, the mountainous regions in South India were ruled over by various tribes. One of the prominent tribal people were the Kuravar, who were prevalent in the Southern part of India, including a part of Sri Lanka or Ceylon, in areas known as 'Thiruthani'. The chief of this Mountain tribe, Nambi Rajan and his wife prayed to the Mountain God for a girl-child. Their prayers were answered and Nambi Rajan's wife gave birth to a new-born girl child. They named the child as Valli and she grew up as the princess of the mountain tribe. Some myths state that Valli was born from a doe when a sage laid eyes on it during a momentary lapse in his meditation.

In her previous birth, Valli and her sibling Deivayani (another consort of Lord Murugan) were the daughters of Lord Vishnu, and both of them undertook severe penance to become the consorts of Lord Muruga, who appeared before them and gave the boon of marriage in their next birth. And in the present birth, the Goddess was destined to marry the God of Mountains, Lord Murugan and would never consider anyone else. At a tender age, Sage Narada informed Her father that she was an intimate Shakti of Lord Subramanya incarnated for the fulfillment of the Lord's lila.

Sri Lankan mythology moves the events into the island and claims that they occurred among the Veddah people near Kataragama. However, South Indian puranas state that Kataragama or Kathirgamam was the place where Lord Murugan stationed his army during his war with Surapadman.