Andhra Pradesh Folk Deities And The Villager’s Faith

Andhra Pradesh Folk Deities:

Andhra Pradesh Folk Deities are numerous, and the people, especially in villages, worship them with the utmost respect. Every state has their folk deities. Andhra Pradesh is

Famous for many Folk Deities. Here, the village people especially worship their Folk Deities on special occasions and daily life. We can find a large number of village Deities in India. Some of the more common Goddesses are as follows.

Pochamma:

Pochamma is the primary Folk Goddess of Andhra Pradesh. In every village, a small shrine was dedicated to her. This is a typical shrine like Lord Rama and God shiva temples. The Pochamma temple is a sacred shrine under a neem tree; the Deity is a stone. In the cities, the Temples were built with beautiful Architecture and placed stone idols inside the temples.
On special occasions, people go to the temple with Bonalu. In the temple, no special priests perform Pooja. People themselves pray according to their traditions and customs.

Maisamma:

The villagers believe that she protects their cattle. Maisamma is seated at ‘Maisamma Goodu’, decorated with whitewash and ‘Kumkuma’. In some places, people worship her as the Goddess of water. They believe that Maisamma blesses her devotees and flourishes the crops with many Grains.

Gangamma:

She is well known as the water Goddess. She is the main Deity to fishermen. Before entering the sea, the fishermen pray to her to protect their lives and seek blessings. Many village people believe that she watches the Orphans and poor people also.

Yellamma:

Yellamma has other well-known names: Polimeramma, Renuka, Mahankali, Jogamma and many others. We can see the Shrines of Yellamma at every boundary of the villages. People believe yellamma will not allow disease or evil to enter the town.

Potharaju:

Andhra Pradesh farmers keep a small stone in the corner of their fields, paint it white, and treat it as their folk God. The farmers believe that Potharaju looks after their agricultural lands and crops, protecting them from dreadful diseases, thieves and animals. The farmers pray for Potharaju when the crops are harvested.

Katama Raju:

Shepherds and cowherds worship Katama Raju. They believe the Deity protects their cattle from diseases and other evil impressions. Katama Raju fought against the Nellore kings for the grazing rights of the animal herders.