Ayyanar Horse Shrines of Tamil Nadu

Ayyanar shrines can be found all over South India,. But the ones in the Chettinad area are noteworthy for their unusually large displays of terracotta horses. 

Usually located in the peripheral areas of villages or in sacred groves, Ayyanar shrines are common in many Tamilnadu villages. The Hindu god Aiyan, usually depicted as large, fierce and mustached, is worshipped as a village protector, guardian, and bringer of good fortune.

According to legend, he rides the perimeter of the village at night on his white horse, with sword in hand and with his sidekick. Aiyan probably has origins in pre-Vedic agrarian beliefs.

Villagers commission painted terracotta votives as offerings as thanks for good harvests and healthy babies and animals. Usually, the offerings are brightly painted horses, but sometimes they include cows, elephants, and other animals as well as human-form deities. A shrine might contain thousands of these offerings, with the older ones decaying and crumbling into the jungle as they are replaced by rows of new ones.

The votives are generally around shoulder height, but there are usually smaller offerings as well, sometimes piled up around the bases of the horses. However, in the town of Aranthagi, the shrines have rows of towering five-meter horses, thanks to the generosity and skill of the master potters of that area. The horses are hand-crafted and fired over burning coconut husks in immense vertical mud kilns. After firing they are painted brightly and paraded through the town to the shrine by 50-60 men in a yearly ceremony.