Paper short abstract:

A Hindu goddess, Kannaki, worship is popular among Sri Lankan Tamil for Justice and healing from diseases. Therefore, Kannaki worship is being prominent ritual practice of life support since the thirty years of civil war ended in 2009 and during the covid-19 pandemic among Sri Lankan Tamil.

Paper long abstract:

Goddess Kannaki worship is popular among the Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus. She is a heroine of one of the Tamil epic Cilapaticāram. Her worship and rituals are being as mode of life support in the sense of justice and healing from the diseases. In the post-war environment, many of the uprisings of migration, death, family breakdown, and nationalist consciousness are being remembered and re-evaluated through the ritual events at the Kannagi temple. The role of Kannagi worship in these changes is important since the civil war ended and during the pandemic. At the same time, caste hierarchies are being re-imagined through material realities, such as temple roles and kinship relations. Pre-war and war-time social structures are evolving to reflect the new political and economic environment. These all changes also influence in worship, especially during the covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, Kannagi seems to hold an important symbolic significance within these changes during the life support needed.