BHADRAKALI,SMALL POX AND MUDIYETT

In the kingdom of Danavas,Darika was a demon who did penance, propitiated Brahma and got a boon that he can not be killed by a man ( male ). His atrocities became unbearable. Brahma had granted Darika the boon that no god or man would be able to kill him and that every drop of his blood that fell to the ground would lead to the birth of hundreds of Darikas. He could be slayed only by a woman. Born to Darumathy, Darika grew extremely arrogant in his power and attacked the Devas. He entered Devalok and then stormed into Kailasa. Shiva created a Shakti called Bhadrakali from his third eye who annihilated Darika. Bhadrakali set about her mission as soon as she was born, with the leader of forest ghosts and spirits, Vetalam in tow.

And as the blood dripped off his torso, she licked it before it could fall on to the ground.
However, even after Darika was killed, Bhadrakali’s thirst for blood was not appeased and she went on a killing spree. The gods ran to Shiva for help. He tried to convince her to stop but when everything failed, he lay down on the ground and said, “Daughter dance upon my naked body and release your anger.” That worked and Bhadrakali’s terrifying rampage came to an end as did the reign of Darika.  

Darika’s wife was Manodari. She was struck with grief and started observing tapas. With her husband killed, she didn’t know how to sustain herself.

Shiva was pleased with her tapas and appeared before her. He gave her a few drops of his sweat and told her that if she sprinkles it on someone it will cause small pox. The disease stricken person would worship her with offerings and that will be her means to sustain herself. Thus Manodari became the presiding deity of small pox.

She returned from her tapas and on the way back she met Bhadrakali. Full of hate for her for having killed her husband, Manodari sprinkled the sweat on Bhadrakali and immediately Bhadrakali was struck down with small pox.

Mudiyett in Kerala

Upon hearing this, Shiva created a Rakshasa called Ghantakarna and told him to lick up all the small pox eruptions from Bhadrakali’s body. He started doing that from feet upwards. As he reached her face, Shiva asked him to stop as it was not proper for a brother to lick his sister’s face. Thus the small pox marks started to adorn Bhadrakali’s face permanently.

Ghantakarna couldn’t tolerate the name of Vishnu, so he hung huge bells ( ghanta ) in his ears so that their sound subdued the chanting of Vishnu’s name.

Later, Shiva instructed him to propitiate Vishnu by observing tapas. He did so. Vishnu granted him place in Vaikuntha. Even though born a Rakshasa, Ghantakarna is worshiped as a deity after this.In another version, Bhadrakali failed to kill Darika in her first attempt and so she approached his wife Manodari who knew the secret mantra that Brahma has given her husband. Bhadrakali tricked her into revealing the mantra and went into the battlefield, but when Manodari found out, she obtained a bucket of Parvati’s sweat and threw it on Bhadrakali at which she was instantly covered with sores all over her body. Shiva then created a being out of his earwax called Ghantakarnan who licked the sores off her body, however he was too embarrassed to lick her face and hence Bhadrakali’s face is still marked with spots (like a small pox infestation).

This story is performed and sung as Darikavadham (the legend of Darika’s killing) in various parts of Kerala as an offering to the goddess Bhagavathy. In later years, the worship of Bhadrakali has been merged with that of Bhagavathy.  

Mudiyett or Mudiyettu is a traditional ritual theatre and folk dance drama from Kerala that enacts the mythological tale of a battle between the goddess Kali and the demon Darika. The ritual is a part of the bhagavathi or bhadrakali cult. The dance is performed in bhadrakali temples, the temples of the Mother Goddess, between February and May after the harvesting season. In 2010 Mudiyettu was inscribed in the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, becoming the second art form from Kerala after Koodiyattam.

The Kavu Theendal ritual in Kodungallur Bhagavathi Temple in Kerala commemorates the slaying of the demon Darika.