Karuppu Sami (Tamil: கருப்பு சாமி; also Karupparayan, Karuppanasami, or simply Karuppu) is the paradigmatic kaval-deivam ("guardian deity") of Tamil village religion — the fierce, dark-complexioned enforcer who stands at the boundary of every Ayyanar shrine and every cultivated field. He is not one deity but a class of deities (the irupattu-oru Karuppu, "twenty-one Karuppus"), each a regional variant with its own name, weapon, and ritual calendar, yet all functioning as the visible arm o
Deities
