In search of divine intervention to provide succour amidst the raging second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a private temple attached to the Kamatchipuri Adhinam in Coimbatore has installed a deity named ‘Corona Devi’ to pray for warding off the virus.
Located in Ondipudur, the temple saw the installation of the deity on Tuesday, said the mutt’s manager Ananda Bharathi. “This year, [COVID-19] is more severe than it was last year. Hence, we felt that by regarding [the virus] to be a god and praying to it, the disease would be cured,” he said. Mr. Bharathi gave the example of Plague Mariamman, a deity established during the spread of plague around a century ago.
Following the installation on Tuesday, the mutt began a 48-day-long ritual involving yagams (ritual involving fire), which will be done between 11 a.m. and 12 noon every day for the deity, he said. As part of the COVID-19 safety protocol, no devotees will be allowed to participate in this daily ritual, Mr. Bharathi noted.
Rajesh Govindarajulu, a historian based in Coimbatore, said that deities such as Plague Mariamman were not installed afresh but the existing deities were converted by the local community. He gave the example of the Plague Mariamman Temple on Big Bazaar Street in the city, where the temple itself was around 150 years old, but the plague occurred in Coimbatore district a little over a century ago as per historical records. “Primarily, this was done to collectively and focus on the issue,” Mr. Govindarajulu said, adding that such deities were an “expression of the society and not that of an individual.”