Guardians of the Locals: A look into Hindu Folk Deities

The phrase folk religion or folk deity is very commonly heard in terms of culture. Every state and region in India have a set of folk deities. After the release of movie Kantara, there was wide discussion about the folk deities represented in the movie. So I thought, let’s try to answer the question : what exactly is a folk deity?

Folk Religion, worldwide, is defined as various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized religion. Sometimes also termed popular belief, it consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of a religion; but outside official doctrine and practices.¹

But does this definition apply in Hinduism ? Hinduism doesn’t have an official doctrine or official set of practices. Hinduism, isn’t even an organized religion for that matter. Hinduism talks about Dharma, and not religion. Dharma in Hinduism refers to the duties to be performed by an individual. That’s why we call it as Sanatan Dharma (the eternal set of duties); as the duties are eternal in nature. Hinduism encompasses of many different belief systems. Hinduism entails diverse systems of thought, marked by a range of shared concepts that discuss theology, mythology, among other topics, in textual sources.² While we know about Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shakta and Smarta sects; there are many others who have own set of beliefs and traditions. And with so many different sects, there can be no official doctrine. In fact, the word Hinduism was coined in Western ethnography in the 18th century ³and refers to the fusion, or synthesis⁴, of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder.⁵

The deity can be represented in a male or a female human, an animal, or even an object, like a holy stone. Hindus have personified and deitified many plants, animals and objects. Interesting oart is that, we have even deitified some diseases. And they are worshipped with different names in different parts of the country.

What are Folk Deities in Hinduism?

So how do we identify folk deities in India? And why do we have the folk deities, when we already have so many sects? A very obvious question arises.

As we saw that Hinduism is fusion of multiple sects; with a few being more popular than others. So we get some deities like Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Ganesha, Kartikeya, Surya, Brahma etc being more popular among most sects. These Gods have many temples associated with them. And in addition, these deities have been mentioned in various religious literature like Puranas, Shrimad bhagavata, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Ethnographic accounts of Hinduism have been dominated by attention to the Sanskritic and Brahmanic elements derived from scriptural, elitist grounding. However, the oral stories and tradition have often been ignored; because of their association with only a small number of people or smaller geographical area. There are deities that are part of these often ignored folklores and are worshipped in small regions. These deities are often termed as folk deities. Folk Hinduism, as some scholars prefer to call it,⁶ involves worship of deities which are not found in Hindu scriptures. 

Types of folk deities?

Human life is thrived by two things. Hunger and fear. These are the two things which keep any human being lead a life. Folk deities exist for these two factors. We are afraid of many factors such as natural calamities, diseases, losses in business, thefts and ill wishes of our enemies. We need protection from all these things, and the folk deities provide us protection. On the other hand, we are hungry for fertility. We want the families to bear healthy and beautiful children. We want our agricultural lands to produce abundant crops. We want the nature to be favorable to our demands and requirements.

On a broader scale, we have two types of folk deities. The deities that provide us protection, and the deities that provide us fertility. We have folk deities like Mhasoba and Khandoba in Maharashtra; Betal in Goa and coastal regions of Maharashtra and Goa; Shasta in Tamilnadu; Gogaji and Tejaji in Rajsthan; Baba Shivo in northern India (Himalayan region); Bhathiji Maharaj in Gujarat; Veeran in the Madurai region of Tamilnadu. These are the deities that act as guardian deities. There are also folk deities like Ashapura devi in Kutch; Bahuchara Mata in Jaisalmer region; Santeri in Goa and coastal Karnataka; Harsiddhi in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and northern Maharashtra; Jalaram in Junagadh region; Ramdevji in Rajasthan; Renuka in Telangana, Central and Northern Karnataka and parts of Maharashtra. These are the deities that provide us the much needed fertility. Some deities like Manasa devi are worshipped as both, fertility and protection.

The folk deities are also differentiated in Gramdevta (the deity of the village) and Kuldevta (the deity of the family). However, this is not a clear distinction factor among the folk deities. Such a deity is often the object of one’s devotion, and is coaxed to watch over one’s clan (kula), gotra, family, and children from misfortune. ⁷

A Gramadevta is generally that who sits in a shrine that existed either from before the settlement, or right from the beginning of the settlement. The shrine works as the religious and cultural center of the place, and is sometimes also the center of the financials of the place.⁸ The word Gramdevta, can be translated in two ways. It could mean “Deity of the village” or “The deity that is village”. When I visit Renuka temples at Mahur or Ambejogai in Maharashtra; I often wonder why only face of the deity is carved on the rock. Where is the rest of the body? To think of it from the other perspective, the whole village is the body of the deity and only the face is at the center. The face at the center is what we worship as representation of the whole village.

A South Indian legend states that the gramadevatas trace their origin to the first Shakti, created by the Supreme Being. Nine forms of this Shakti, collectively designated as the Navashakti, were created. Due to their arrogance, they were banished from heaven to the earth, where they were assigned the task of protecting mankind from evil and malicious forces. Thus, the gramadevatas are honoured for their duty through festivals and temples dedicated to their worship.⁹

Gramadevatas are believed to serve as the protectors of fields and the general countryside, preventing plagues, famines, pestilence, war, as well as natural disasters. They are also venerated to honour their task of guarding villagers from evil.¹⁰ These deities, predominantly goddesses, possess both benevolent and malevolent features, to mark their roles as gentle to supplicants, and also fierce to wrongdoers. 

A Kuldevta, on the other hand, is associated with the whole family. The family may transfer to some other place, but their Kuladevta would still be the same. Such a deity is often the object of one’s devotion (bhakti), and is coaxed to watch over one’s clan (kula), gotra, family, and children from misfortune. This is distinct from an ishta-devata (personal tutelar) and a grāmadevatā (village deities).¹¹ An Ishta-Devta maybe where your personal devotion is, but your Kuldevta may be different than that. A Kuldevta is usually associated with the founder of the clan, or may be the Ishta Devta of one of the influential person in the clan. The Kuldevta could be the Gramdevta of the place, where the clan earlier belonged. And the Kuldevta may remain the same or change, after the clan relocates to a different place.

There are sometimes, some Sthana Devtas. Like Kuldevta is protector deity of the clan, Gramdevata is protector of the village, Sthana devta is protector of a particular location (like a farm or small colony).

In Hinduism, the Kuldevata and Gramadevta are given a lot of importance. When a newly wed bride comes home, she is first taken to worship these deities. When a child is born, he/she is taken to the worship. When there is some auspicious event at home, invites are sent to these deities. When any major celebration is happening at home, a plate of food is kept aside for these deities and later fed to cow as representative of the deity. The tradition may vary based on locations. But the idea of respect and devotion towards the deities remain the same.

Why are folk deities needed?

One may as the question, with so many Vedic and Puranic deities; why do we need more folk deities? A few reasons I can find out. Firstly, Hinduism is not one organised religion. Multiple different traditions, cults, societies, cultures and groups have always co-existed. Vedas or Puranas were written by select few, who did not in any way represent every single society that existed. While worship of most Puranic deities spread much faster in the post puranic era; the worship of the other deities also continued in their particular regions.

One common theme among most of the folk deities is that almost every folk deity lived on the earth in a human form. While the deities in Vedas and Puranas lived in the heaven, these deities lived here on earth, just like you and me. So we can form a closer relationship with the folk deities. The folk deities are often manifestation or in some way related to the important Puranic deities. Khandoba and Betal are associated with Shiva; Pandurang or Ramdevji are said to be manifestation of Vishnu and Krishna respectively; Renuka and other goddesses are said to be form of Shakti. Even Hanuman, who is said to be manifestation of Shiva and devotee of Vishnu (Rama) is worshipped as folk deities in various forms. Maybe this is a way to provide us a source of devotion and inspiration, that we can connect with. And these folk deities are a symbolic link between the Puranic deities and the devotees.

Like I earlier mentioned, most of the folk deities lived on earth like a human, and attained the Godhood because of their good deeds on the Earth. So this narration maybe a way to make us realise that anyone and everyone can attain godhood based on our good deeds. The folk deities also exist in the society to provide confidence of being protected and being supported. As mentioned earlier, our lived are driven by fear and hunger. We need this support; to overcome our fear and to satisfy our hunger. The folk deities provide us exactly that.

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2. Michaels, Axel (2004). Hinduism: Past and Present. Translated by Harshav, Barbara. Princeton University Press. ↩︎
3. Sweetman, Will (2003). Mapping Hinduism: ‘Hinduism’ and the Study of Indian Religions, 1600–1776. ↩︎
4. Samuel, Geoffrey (2008). The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. ↩︎
5. Narayanan, Vasudha (2009). Hinduism. The Rosen Publishing Group. ↩︎
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8. Places like Tirupati, Khatu, Kedarnath, Shirdi are the best example of this. ↩︎
9. Sharma, Arvind (2000). Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. ↩︎
10. Jeyaraj, Daniel (23 September 2004). Genealogy of the South Indian Deities: An English Translation of Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg’s Original German Manuscript with a Textual Analysis and Glossary. Routledge ↩︎
11. Cush, Denise; Robinson, Catherine; York, Michael (2012-08-21). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Routledge ↩︎