Folk Deities and Saints of Rajasthan: Exam Notes

In Rajasthan a village looks first to its own deity. A lok devta is a hero, usually a historical figure of the medieval centuries, who died protecting cattle, people or his word, and whose shrine then became the place where the village brings its troubles. The saints, the sants, are a second line: teachers who preached one formless God, criticised caste and ritual, and left behind sects that still have their own seats and fairs. Every state level paper and many SSC and Railway papers ask the deity with his village, his fair, his community and his symbol, so these are the pairs to fix.

The five great folk deities

Pabuji is remembered as a Rathore of Kolu who died defending the cows of Deval the Charan woman, and he is the deity of camel herders; his story is painted on a phad and sung at night by bhopas who play the ravanhattha. Gogaji is shown on horseback with a spear and a snake, his shrine at Gogamedi draws a huge fair on Goga Navami in the month of Bhadrapada, and Muslims call him Jahar Peer, which makes him a standing example of shared worship. Ramdevji, a Tanwar Rajput of Runicha, taught against untouchability, is called Ramsa Pir, and his fair at Ramdevra from the second day of the bright half of Bhadrapada draws pilgrims who walk hundreds of kilometres; his followers are known as the Kamadiya panth and his terahtali dance is performed by the Kamad community. Tejaji, a Jat of Kharnal, was bitten by a snake while keeping his word to return, and is worshipped wherever snakebite is feared; farmers tie his thread and the Parbatsar fair in Nagaur is one of the largest cattle fairs of the state. Devnarayanji, held by his devotees to be an incarnation of Vishnu, rode the horse Lila, and his phad is sung by Gurjar bhopas to the jantar.

Other folk deities and the folk goddesses

Beyond the five, the state honours Mallinath of Tilwara in Barmer, after whom the Malani tract is named and whose cattle fair is held in Chaitra; Mehaji Mangaliya of Bapini and Harbhuji of Bengti in the Jodhpur region; Veer Kalla ji, worshipped in Mewar and shown with many arms; and Bhomiya ji, the hero who fell defending cattle, whose plain stone platforms stand outside countless villages. The folk goddesses are equally fixed in the exam: Karni Mata at Deshnoke in Bikaner district, whose temple is famous for its rats, called kabas, and who is linked with the founding of Bikaner and Jodhpur; Jeen Mata in Sikar; Kaila Devi in Karauli; Shila Devi at Amber; and Shakambhari Mata at Sambhar.

The saints and their sects

Guru Jambhoji, born at Pipasar in Nagaur, founded the Bishnoi sect on a code of twenty nine rules, which is what the name means, and those rules order the protection of green trees and of wild animals; his main seat is Mukam near Nokha in Bikaner district, and the Khejarli sacrifice of 1730, in which Amrita Devi and others died to save khejri trees, came out of this teaching. Jasnathji of Katariyasar in Bikaner district founded the Jasnathi sect, whose followers are known for the agni nritya, the fire dance performed on burning coals. Dadu Dayal, who preached one formless God and met Emperor Akbar, left his main seat at Naraina in Jaipur district, and his verses are collected as the Dadu Vani; his follower Sundardas is counted among the finest poets of the Dadu panth. Sant Pipa, the ruler of Gagron in present Jhalawar who gave up his throne, and Sant Dhanna of the Tonk region were both disciples of Ramanand. Swami Ramcharan founded the Ramsnehi sect with its seat at Shahpura in Bhilwara, Sant Haridas founded the Nirinjani sect at Gadha near Didwana, and Laldas founded the Laldasi sect in the Mewat country of Alwar.

Mirabai and the Sufi line

Mirabai, born at Kudki in the Merta country and married into the ruling house of Mewar, is the best known devotional poet of Rajasthan; she sang of Krishna as Giridhar Gopal, left the palace for the company of saints, and her padas are sung across north India to this day. The Sufi tradition runs parallel: Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, who settled at Ajmer and founded the Chishti order in India, is remembered in the Urs held at his dargah every year, and Hamiduddin Nagauri carried the same teaching to Nagaur. Hindu and Muslim worshippers at Gogamedi, Ramdevra and Ajmer are the reason Rajasthan's folk religion is described in textbooks as a composite tradition.

How to remember them

Learn each deity in a line of four: name, village, community and fair. Pabuji, Kolu, camel herders, phad. Gogaji, Gogamedi, snakes, Goga Navami. Ramdevji, Ramdevra, all castes, Bhadrapada fair. Tejaji, Kharnal, farmers, Parbatsar. Devnarayan, Asind, Gurjars, the long phad. Then add the sects in pairs of founder and seat: Jambhoji with Mukam, Jasnathji with Katariyasar, Dadu with Naraina, Ramcharan with Shahpura, Haridas with Gadha. Four or five marks of any Rajasthan paper come straight out of those two lists.