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What is the origin of Kavadee? According to a popular legend, the great sage Agastiya requested his most devoted disciple, Idumban, to bring for him the two
mountain peaks of ‘Sivagiri’ and ‘Saktigiri’ given to him by Shiva. When Idumban reached mount Kailasum, Shiva’s abode, he detached the two peaks, tied them to the ends of a pole which he placed on his shoulders and
started on his journey back to earth.
On the way, Idumban was overcome with pride at the contemplation of his own strength and began to think of himself as greater than his own ‘guru’, the sage
Agastiya. In order to humble his pride and teach him humility, Lord Muruga assumed the form of a little six-year old boy and hid on one of the peaks while ldumban was taking a short nap. When the latter woke up and
tried to lift the hills he found that they had become too heavy and he was not able to lift them. He spotted a little boy with a stick on top of one of the hills. ‘These are mine’ declared the boy. Idumban became
angry and both fell to fighting. In the fight that ensued Idumban was mortally wounded. On sage Agastiya’s intercession, he was brought back to life. Idumban at once prostrated himself before Muruga entreating him
for the honour of serving him and standing guard before his temple for ever. ldumban vowed to help all mortals who carry the kavadee in honour of Muruga and to relieve them of their miseries.
Thus began the sacred practice of ‘kavadee’, named after the semi-circular yoke used to carry first the mountains and later the pots oi milk. Devotees
worship Lord Muruga in the manner of Idumban during the Thai Poosam festival (january/February) in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and elsewhere. But the way kavadee is celebrated in Mauritius is
unique. It is much more elaborate and solemn here than even in its country of origin
The ‘kavadee’ most commonly seen in Mauritius are the ‘pushpa kavadee’ (flower kavadee) and ‘paal kavadee’ (milk kavadee). But there are other types of
kavadee as well. In earlier days some devotees used to carry fish as offering instead of milk. On the eve of the festival the penitent who had vowed to carry the ‘Matchak Kavadee’ (fish kavadee) would be shown in a
dream the exact place where he would find two fishes. The next morning he would go to the place and would easily catch the fish in a piece of linen used as a net. He would cut each into two halves and put them
separately in two earthen pots containing water which he would then tie to his kavadee.
After the ceremony at the temple, the devotee would go back to the river and open the pots. The two fishes would have come back to life in the meantime and
the separated halves would have joined together and the fish would leap out of the pots into the river. It was on the occasion of the
‘Sittireye Parouvam’ in 1967 that the ‘fish kavadee’was last performed by an old man named Manmootoo Chellambrum at St Hubert. This miracle was witnessed by
hundreds of people among whom were several journalists who published the feat in their papers”.
Tamils worship Muruga with great love and devotion. Many Tamils are called after one of the several names of Muruga: Vel, Velan, Moorghen or Murugan,
Soopaya short for Subramanian or Soopramanien, Kadirvelan, Kumaran or Kumara, Thandayudapaani, Palani, Palanisami, Palamiyandee, Swamynaden, Ku marasawmy, Kandasami, Kandan, Sooben, Muth uvel, Mootoosamy, Armoogum
or Arumugam.
The Muruga cult is more widespread in Tamil Nadu than anywhere else in India, although worship is offered in many parts of North India as well. People vow
to carry a kavadee for various reasons: because of serious health problems or
other failures, or as penance for wrongs done to someone else. There is a ‘janma kavadee’ i.e lifelong kavadee which parents vow when their children suffer
from an incurable disease.
In the opinion of some learned people ‘kavadee’ may represent man’s unconscious desire to lay at the feet of God all his burdens and go away with His
blessings. It is also a form of purificatory sacrifice — by self-inflicted suffering the penitent washes away his sins and becomes ‘pure’.
Kavadee also symbolises the triumph of good over evil. According to the Hindus our era is the ‘Kali Yug’ (the black era) dominated by irreligion, injustice,
violence and evil. The ‘vel’ of Muruga symbolises the spear of victory that will eventually restore peace and harmony in the world. It will destroy arrogance and hypocrisy, violence and injustice — and man will
emerge from the ashes of sin and evil like ldumban redeemed.
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