Folk & Regional
Village and mountain deities, clan cults and the local traditions beneath the great ones.
Deities
- AmarnathShiva worshipped as the ice-liṅga that forms each year in the Himalayan cave.
- AngalammanThe fierce guardian mother-goddess of the cremation ground.
- AravanSon of Arjuna, worshipped as Kūttāṇṭavar by the Aravani community.
- Ashapura Mata“Fulfiller of hopes”;
- AshokasundariDaughter of Shiva and Parvati in Purāṇic lore.
- AyyanarGuardian-god who rides the village bounds at night on a terracotta horse.
- AyyappaBorn of Shiva and Mohini;
- Bahuchara MataGoddess on a rooster;
- BalabhadraElder brother of Jagannath;
- BathouBwrai Bathou, the supreme god of the Bodo people, worshipped through the sijou plant.
- BhavaniThe life-giving goddess;
- BhudeviThe Earth goddess;
- BirajaThe ancient goddess of Jajpur;
- Bonbibi“Lady of the forest”;
- ChamundeshwariThe lion-riding goddess of Mysore, slayer of Mahiṣa on Chamundi Hill.
- ChintpurniChinnamastikā of Una;
- Dakshin RaiThe tiger-god and lord of the Sundarbans, rival tamed by Bonbibi.
- Dhari DeviThe guardian-goddess of the Alaknanda, protectress of Uttarakhand.
- DharmathakurFormless village god of lower Bengal, worshipped as a shapeless stone.
- Doni-PoloThe Sun (Donyi) and Moon (Polo), supreme deities of several Arunachal peoples.
- Draupadi AmmanDraupadī deified as a fire-walking village goddess.
- EkviraThe mother-goddess of the Karla caves, revered by the Kolis and Agris.
- GaneshaElephant-headed remover of obstacles;
- GangaThe Ganges;
- GangammaThe fierce village mother of the Tirupati country, honoured in the jātara.
- GodavariThe “Ganges of the South”;
- GogajiThe snake-god and folk-hero of Rajasthan, invoked against serpents.
- Golu DevtaThe god of justice of Kumaon, whose shrines are hung with petition-bells and letters.
- GulikanA Theyyam deity of death and time, a form of Yama-Kāla.
- HarsiddhiThe Śākta goddess of Ujjain and coastal Gujarat.
- Hidimba DeviThe demoness-wife of Bhīma, worshipped as goddess at Manali.
- HuligemmaThe tiger-riding goddess of northern Karnataka.
- JhulelalJhulelal is the patron deity of the Sindhi community, worshipped by Sindhi Hindus as an incar…
- Jwala JiThe goddess worshipped as ever-burning natural flames in Himachal.
- JyotibaThe hill-god of Wadi Ratnagiri, a form of Kedāranātha.
- KamakhyaThe bleeding mother-goddess of the Nīlācala hill;
- Karni MataThe warrior-sage goddess of Deshnoke, whose temple honours sacred rats.
- KaruppasamiThe “black god”;
- KaveriLife-giving river-goddess of the Tamil country.
- Kechai Khaiti“Eater of raw flesh”;
- KhandobaWarrior-god on horseback, a folk form of Shiva;
- Khatu ShyamKhatu Shyam is a Hindu deity worshipped chiefly in Rajasthan as a form of Barbarika, a Mahabh…
- Kheer BhawaniRāgnyā Devī of Tulmul, whose sacred spring changes colour;
- KhodiyarThe crocodile-riding warrior-goddess of Gujarat.
- Kodungallur BhagavathyThe fierce Bhadrakālī of Kodungallur;
- KuttichathanA mischievous child-spirit deity of the household and grove.
- Maa TariniThe widely-worshipped goddess of Ghatgaon, honoured by a stone face of red.
- Madurai VeeranThe deified warrior-hero and guardian of the Madurai country.
- MahalakshmiAmbābāī of Kolhapur;
- Mahasu DevtaMahasu Devta is a group of four brother deities worshipped as ruling gods (devtas) across the…
- Male MahadeshwaraThe hill-god of the M.
- ManasaThe serpent-goddess;
- MangalaVillage mother-goddess of Kakatpur and coastal Odisha.
- MangalchandiA benign folk form of Caṇḍī, goddess of household welfare.
- ManjunathaThe form of Shiva enshrined at Dharmasthala.
- MariammanGoddess of rain, fertility and disease;
- MhasobaA fierce village guardian-god of the Maharashtrian countryside.
- MuniswaranA guardian-god of the boundaries, a folk form of Shiva.
- MuthappanThe hunter-and-toddy god of Parassinikadavu, worshipped through Theyyam.
- NagasNagas are serpent deities and semi-divine beings in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain tradition, wors…
- Naina DeviThe eye-goddess of the Śakti Pīṭha above Bilaspur.
- Nanda DeviThe mountain-goddess of Uttarakhand, honoured in the great Rāj Jāt pilgrimage.
- NandiThe bull;
- NarmadaThe self-born river of central India, holy to Shiva.
- PabujiThe deified Rathore hero, protector of camels and cattle.
- PanchanandaA rustic five-faced folk form of Shiva in rural Bengal.
- PochammaThe Telugu village goddess of pox and protection.
- RamdevjiFolk-deity and saint of Ranuja, revered across caste and creed.
- SamaleswariThe presiding mother-goddess of western Odisha at Sambalpur.
- Sammakka & SaralammaTribal mother and daughter goddesses of the great Medaram jātara.
- SandhyaGoddess of the ritual twilight junctures.
- SaptashrungiThe eighteen-armed goddess of the seven peaks near Nashik.
- SharadaThe goddess of learning of ancient Kashmir, of the Śāradā Pīṭha.
- Sharika DeviThe eighteen-armed goddess of Hari Parbat in Srinagar.
- ShashthiCat-riding goddess of children and childbirth.
- ShitalaThe “cool one” who governs and cures smallpox and fever.
- SubhadraSister of Jagannath and Balabhadra;
- Sudalai MadanThe cremation-ground god, a fierce son of Shiva in folk belief.
- SudarshanaThe deified discus of Vishnu, worshipped as a pillar in the Puri triad.
- TamreswariThe copper-temple goddess of Sadiya, of Chutia worship.
- TejajiThe Jat warrior-saint, worshipped as a god who cures snakebite.
- TulsiThe sacred basil deified;
- VetalThe lord of spirits (Vetāḷa), a guardian folk deity of the Konkan.
- Vettakkorumakan“The son born for the hunt”;
- VishnumayaChāthan;
- YamunaThe dark river of Vṛndāvana;
- YellammaReṇukā of Saundatti;
Dynasties & States
- Ahom dynastyThe Ahom dynasty was a Tai-descended royal line that ruled the Brahmaputra valley of Assam fr…
- Arunachal chiefshipsThe Arunachal hills held dozens of distinct peoples governed by village councils and clan chi…
- BushahrBushahr was the largest of the Himachal hill states, running up the Sutlej to the Tibetan fro…
- Chindaka Nāgas of BastarThe Chindaka Nāgas ruled the Bastar country of southern Chhattisgarh from about 1000 to 1324…
- ChitralChitral was a Hindu Kush principality under the Kator mehtars, containing the Kalash valleys…
- Chutia kingdomThe Chutia kingdom held upper Assam around Sadiya from the twelfth century until the Ahoms de…
- Garo nokma chiefdomsThe Garo hills were governed by village chiefdoms under a nokma rather than by any kingdom, a…
- Jaintia kingdomThe Jaintia kingdom held the hills and the adjoining Sylhet plain until 1835, a matrilineal K…
- Kachari kingdomThe Kachari or Dimasa kingdom ruled central and southern Assam from Dimapur and later Maibang…
- Khasi hima statesThe Khasi hima were some twenty-five small states of the Meghalaya hills, each governed by an…
- Kirāta dynastyThe Kirātas are the dynasty Nepali tradition places before the Licchavis in the Kathmandu val…
- KulluKullu was a kingdom of the upper Beas valley whose rajas ceded sovereignty to the god Raghuna…
- ManipurManipur was ruled by the Ningthouja dynasty from the Kangla at Imphal, and its court chronicl…
- Mizo chiefdomsThe Mizo hills were held by hereditary chiefs, chiefly of the Sailo clan, each ruling a villa…
- MoirangMoirang was one of the principalities of the Manipur valley before Ningthouja unification, th…
- Naga village republicsThe Naga hills were divided among independent villages, each a sovereign unit governed by its…
- Nāgavaṃśī of ChotanagpurThe Nāgavaṃśīs ruled the Chotanagpur plateau, claiming descent from a serpent ancestor, and s…
- Namgyal dynasty of SikkimThe Namgyal chogyals ruled Sikkim from 1642 until 1975, when a referendum abolished the monar…
- PrāgjyotiṣaPrāgjyotiṣa is the name the epics give to the kingdom of the Brahmaputra valley, ruled by Nar…
- Śālastambha dynastyThe Śālastambhas ruled Kāmarūpa for two and a half centuries after the Varmans, a dynasty the…
- Shimla Hill StatesThe Shimla Hill States were some twenty-eight small principalities of the Sutlej–Yamuna water…
- Twipra kingdomThe Twipra kingdom was ruled by the Manikya dynasty from the fourteenth century until 1949, a…
Places & Regions
Sites & Monuments
Concepts
- Brahma KamalBrahma Kamal is the common name for Saussurea obvallata, a rare, night-blooming high-altitude…
- Cannabis in the HimalayaCannabis in the Himalaya refers to the wild and cultivated Cannabis populations native to the…
- Syncretism in Indian religionsSyncretism in Indian religions refers to the historical blending of doctrines, deities, saint…