“People’s belief is what makes something a God,” said Gandhimathiammal, a septuagenarian at Senthi Vinayaga Puram in Virudhunagar where a milestone by the roadside was recently consecrated as a deity of Muthu Muniasamy (guardian angel who ensures a safe voyage) and is being worshipped by locals.
Decades ago, when Virudhunagar was known as Virudhupati, the route, which is now called Senthi Vinayaga Puram Road, was the most trodden to reach Aruppukottai. People used to stop and worship at a milestone on the road that read ‘Virudhupati -1’. “Travellers to Virudhupati used to stop at the milestone to break coconuts and offer pujas, believing it to be a deity of Muthu Muniasamy,” said Sivanandham, a resident of the area.
The practice has continued through generations and even today, locals perform pujas at the milestone. The milestone even had to be shifted to the opposite side of the road after the owner of a house near the stone was perturbed by the crowds of people gathering at the spot to worship. In 1997, a small temple was built around the stone, he added.
Head of the Folklore Department at Madurai Kamaraj University, T Dharmaraj, said folk deities—Karuppu, Madan and Muni—regarded as spirits of those that died unnaturally, hovered at their place of death. Afraid of this, the locals made offerings to the stone, to appease the spirits.
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