Periyammā

The Great Mother

Periyammā (Tamil: periya = great/elder + ammā = mother; 'the great mother' or 'elder mother') is the honorific used for highly senior women within the community and for the Tāyār of the most important Divya Deśams — particularly Śrī Raṅganāyakī Tāyār of Śrī Raṅgam.

Śrī Raṅganāyakī as Periyammā

At Śrī Raṅgam, the Tāyār Śrī Raṅganāyakī is often called Periyammā — the Great Mother who presides over the greatest Divya Deśam. Her intercession (puruṣakāra) on behalf of devotees who approach Raṅganātha is the foundational act of grace in the Śrī Raṅgam tradition.

Community Usage

Within the Śrī Vaiṣṇava community, periyammā is used for women who are senior by many years or generations — women whose devotional life spans decades and who have witnessed generations of the community's spiritual history. Addressing them as periyammā honors not just their age but the accumulated grace they carry as living vessels of the tradition.