Somalamma, also called Somanalamma and Somanayaki Amma, is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...

'' (goddess) who protects ''

soma Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

'' and gives ''soma'' to her devotees to relieve their health and mental symptoms.

Soma

''Soma'' ( sa, सोम), or ''Haoma'' (

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

), from

Proto-Indo-Iranian Proto-Indo-Iranian, also Proto-Indo-Iranic is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Iranian/Indo-Iranic branch of Indo-European. Its speakers, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the late 3rd millennium B ...

''*sauma-'', was an important ritual drink for early

Indo-Iranian peoples Indo-Iranian peoples, also known as Indo-Iranic peoples by scholars, and sometimes as Arya or Aryans from their self-designation, were a group of Indo-European peoples who brought the Indo-Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European l ...

, and the later

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

and greater

Persian culture The culture of Iran () or culture of PersiaYarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) is among the most influential in the world. Iran, also known as Persia, is widely considered to be one of the cradles of civilization. Due t ...

s. It is frequently mentioned in the

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...

, which contains many hymns praising its energising qualities. In the

Avesta The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the litu ...

, ''haoma'' has an entire

Yasht The Yashts are a collection of twenty-one hymns in the Younger Avestan language. Each of these hymns invokes a specific Zoroastrian divinity or concept. ''Yasht'' chapter and verse pointers are traditionally abbreviated as ''Yt.'' Overview The wo ...

dedicated to it. In the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

, ''soma'' is personified as sacred and divine (''

deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

''). The god, the drink, and the plant probably referred to the same entity, or at least the difference was ambiguous. In this aspect, ''soma'' is similar to the Greek

ambrosia In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus ...

(

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

to ''

amrita ''Amrita'' ( sa, अमृत, IAST: ''amṛta''), ''Amrit'' or ''Amata'' in Pali, (also called ''Sudha'', ''Amiy'', ''Ami'') is a Sanskrit word that means "immortality". It is a central concept within Indian religions and is often referred to i ...

''); it is what the gods drink and what makes them deities.

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

and

Agni Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu ...

are portrayed as consuming Soma in copious quantities. The consumption of ''soma'' by human beings was probably under the belief that it bestowed divine qualities on them.

Temples

The goddess Somalamma temples are mainly governed by the

Goud Goud is a Caste system in India, caste consisting predominantly of indigenous people in the Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Gouds are traditionally involved in toddy tapping. However, they are also involved in many modern occupatio ...

communities. Every year, there is a gathering of many of her devotees in various temples in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. * Somalamma temple, Gaigalapadu, Kakinada * Somalamma temple Rajamundry-533103 * Somalamma temple Jangareddy Gudem, West Godavari * Somajiguda, Hyderabad * Somaram, Somavaram, Warangal * Somaram, Somavaram, Nalgonda * Somarajapuram, Kothuru, Srikakulam * Somavaram, Chatrai mandal, Krishna dt * Somavaram Nandigama mandal * Somavarappadu, Pedaparupudi mandal * Somasundarapalem, Tenali, Guntur dt * Somavaram, Wyra mandal, Khammam * Somaram, Saidapur mandal, Karim Nagar * Somanpalle, Jagityal mandal * Somaram Tidwai, Nizamabad dt * Somapuram, Gadivemula, Kurnool * Somalavandlapalli, Talupula, Ananthapur * Somalapuram, Dhirehal * Somaghtta, Chilamattu * Somapuram, Pedduru, Chittoor * Somanadhapuram, Penumur mandal * Somalagadda village, Madanapalle mandal * Somarajulapalle, Kvpalle mandal

References

{{reflist Hindu goddesses Soma (drink)

Soma

Temples

See also

References