Hindu Deities
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Local Deities (Devtas)
Local deities--that is, deities whose area of responsibility is the welfare of a particular geographic area (village, town, region, etc.)--are a ubiquitous feature of Hindu life. Most local deities remain local, but when they become more widely known they can enter the larger pantheon as forms of Shiva, Vishnu, or the Goddess (depending on whether the deity is male or female). This deity on this dholi (palanquin) is for Bhairava, a boundary-guarding deity usually considered to be a form of Shiva. Badrinath, October 2014
The same deity the next morning, before the Badrinath temple. The man at left holds silver standards (a symbol of authority); the palanquin bearers "respond" to the deity's instructions by tipping it from side to side. Local deities most commonly convey their wishes through possession. The imagery here is of local divine official (Bhairava) being taken for an "audience" with his superior (Badrinath)--to give an update on the local situation, and receive divine energy in return. Given India's agrarian culture, a primary reason to invoke these deities is to ensure adequate rainfall. They are also responsible for the general fertility and prosperity of all beings in that region, as well as protecting justice for the weak and/or innocent by punishing wrongdoers.
In many cases local deities have no temple building, but simply some sort of demarcated space--here some fencing enclosing a compound. This is the shrine of Jakh Devta on a hill about 8 km from Gupt Kashi. Jakh is primarily responsible for rainfall, and when it is short the villagers invoke him. Jakh's major festival is in April, when the chief priest gets possessed and does fire walking--by one report, sticking his feet up to his ankles in a bed of coals.
Many local deities function as caretakers and protectors of that local region. These two images come from Ukhimath's Bhairava temple. Bhairava is a powerful and fierce aspect of Shiva who is a common guardian deity; the temple's location on a ridge above the town gives the guardian deity a panoramic view below. Note that the temple has a defined floor space and altar, but no roof to speak of, and no walls except for the hanging colored cloths, which had been put up for a festival just a days earlier, and so were still quite new. Ukhimath's Omkareshvar temple (down the hill from the Bhairava temple) is the winter home to Kedarnath and Madhmaheshvar, two important forms of Shiva.
Local deities often have strong connections with the more widely established ones. The Ghansali Bhairava above had come to Badrinath for an audience with Badri Narayan--a little deity "checking in" with a big one. Another common connector is family relationships, as here in Lata village. The temple at right is to Nanda Devi--a goddess worshipped throughout the region, who is considered a manifestation of Durga/Kali. This temple is famous as a siddhapith--a place at which religious practice quickly brings spiritual insight. The smaller temple at is to her brother Lato, the local deity and protector of Lata village.
This shrine to Kandoliya Devta sits at the outskirts of Pauri town. The shrine is built to resemble a traditional Garhwali house--except that the doorway is not to scale. This local couple came up behind me, washed their hands and feet at a tap, sat down for a quick offering, and then took off. The placard at left gives a hymn to Bhairava, so this ID seems a pretty clear. Since Bhairava is a "form" of Shiva (even though marginal and dangerous), this could eventually provide a way to identify Kandoliya with Shiva if his stature grows.
This Nagaraja devta temple is perched on a ridge line in the middle of nowhere between Pauri and Devaprayag. The original shrine was recently enlarged with a grant from the state government. Nagaraja ("Lord of Snakes") is identified with Krishna, who found the region so charming that he decided to stay there. Out of respect to Shiva (who is everywhere in the Himalaya) Krishna did not want to put his foot down on the ground, so he took the form of a giant snake (since snakes have no feet). The temple's main image is a stone that is said to depict a cobra's hood.
Here's a longer shot of the temple entry. Each bell in this photo was hung as an offering by a particular person, who came to the deity with a particular wish. This emphasis on concrete benefits was also evident in other ways--for example, most of the visitors at the temple were women (who in traditional Indian society tend to have more clearly articulated fertility concerns. Also, since a nearby shop advertised "all sorts of charms and amulets," all signs point to Nagaraja as a place to which people come seeking solutions to immediate problems of health, prosperity, and progeny.
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