HILLBILLY
Lokesh Ohri
Many who do not belong to the mountains but wander around in the Himalaya have come across temple rituals of deity palanquins and people dancing to the beats of the traditional drums of Garhwal, Kumaon and Jaunsar, Dhol and Damaun. The sight fills us with awe, but we also come back with several misconceptions. Here is a simple description of what is going on when the deity palanquin or the deities themselves are dancing through their possessed vehicles, the people.
Uttarakhand is a land of Devtas, and these deities are invoked through embodied ritual in deep valleys and on the mountain tops. For most of us brought up in the modern education system, this may be meaningless and repetitive activity, devoid of any efficacy, but the practice has deep significance for people that live in these mountains. It is crucial to the mental health and physical wellbeing of the people. In fact, most rituals in the Himalaya centre around community rituals of procession and possession. These practices not only bring back wellbeing but also unite the community.
Deity songs and singing styles are an integral part of the cultural heritage of Uttarakhand. The ballads of the various deities sung during such rituals are a part of vast folk literature of Kumaoni, Garhwali and Jaunsari languages. Life in the Himalaya is physically challenging and constant exposure to the fluctuations of nature inspires a strong connection with the divine. Every village has their own gods such as Kshetrapal or Bhumiyal who protect the space, while each family reveres their Kul Devta or Kul Devi, the deities of the clan, which could reward or torment people and must be awakened and appeased regularly.
Devta Puja, simply put, is a form of ancestral spirit worship which is practised in the Uttarakhand Himalaya. Devta worship is a means to awaken, a technique or method through which gods or local deities are called or awakened from a dormant state and asked for certain favours or remedies for problems faced by individuals and communities. Puja is also conducted to thank the deity upon the fulfilment of a long-cherished desire. Such rituals and worship can be observed at various locations in the mountains throughout the year in conjunction with agricultural practices, seasons, family and village traditions. Village calendars and festivals are usually organised around the Devta Puja cycles. Many rituals are believed to provide protection, health and prosperity to individuals and the community. The specifics of Devta Puja can vary between different regions and social groups in the Himalaya. For instance, practices among the Gorkhas, the Garhwalis, Kumaonis and the Ladakhis could be distinct from each other, while also being similar in many ways.
The person organising and conducting Devta Puja is the priest of that respective village who recites the mantras and knows the practices required to awaken the Devtas– the power that gets manifested inside a human being. During such a ritual experience, the individual is overpowered to abide by the Devta’s instructions, but also overflows with energy to feel empowered to undertake more difficult and bigger tasks. The ritual of Devta Puja is an embodied ritual. People in the mountains forge direct relationships with the divinities and their ancestors, and it is their spirits that enter their bodies on these occasions.
The best example of the connection people in Uttarakhand forge with their deities is the patron goddess of the State, Nanda Devi, after whom the highest peak in the region is named. Every 12 years, people from several villages in Garhwal and Kumaon, the two principal mountain regions of the State, embark on an arduous pilgrimage beginning at Nauti village in the Chamoli district and walk through the pristine regions of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, covering 350 odd kilometres, ending at the high-altitude lake of Homkund. The entire pilgrimage is a ritual of seeing-off the deity as a daughter to the home of the husband of her choice, Adiyogi Shiva. The pilgrimage is an emotional journey akin to the sending of the daughter to the home of her in-laws. In this manner, every household in the region begins to treat the goddess Nanda Devi as a dhiyan, a daughter. When people share such strong familial bonds with the divine within nature, would the space not qualify to the description of Dev Bhumi?
In a normal village Puja, a group of people visit the temple and stand in a corner, playing on musical instruments such as Shankh or the conch, the Hurka, a hand-held kettle drum, the Himalayan twin drums Dhol and Damaun, all of which are percussion instruments native to Uttarakhand, played by professional musicians. The person who sings is known as a Jagariya because it is believed that music is the medium to invoke the Devta.The room or a temple inside which Devta Puja is to be performed is purified by ritual processes and is looked after by the Jagariya, followed by the lighting of the sacred fire known as Dhuni.
Devta ceremonies are of two types – one is the Dev Jagar, the acknowledgment of Devta in which the ultimate power gets manifested in the body of the medium; and the other is the Bhut Jagar, acknowledgment of a deceased person’s spirit or soul in the medium’s body. On these occasions, most people can be seen carrying some or the other sacred weapons in their hands such as a knife, a bow and arrow, a mace, or even masks at times, as believed to be used by their ancestors, carefully preserved in a sacred space for generations. This is a means of paying homage to the spirits of the ancestors. This is expressed in the form of a community dance performed in a circle around the elevated platform where they will collectively place these sacred weapons at the end of the ceremony. The ash from the holy fire is applied on the foreheads of those present during the ritual. People then begin to dance to the beats of Dhol and Damaun and lose themselves in their faith. Devta Puja goes on for two, four or 20 days or more, varying from village to village.
These rituals are significant for agricultural seasons too as it is the deity that signals the beginning of the harvest where all villagers must come together to work in each other’s fields. Without obtaining consent from the deity, the community act of harvesting the crop standing in their fields cannot commence. Therefore, the deity’s word is crucial to initiate anything new in the village. For instance, the construction of community buildings like a Panchayat Ghar or a school, requires divine affirmations at every major step. In such times, the deity possesses the priest and gives options on suitable sites.
Behind these Pujas is deep-seated belief of people of Uttarakhand in divine justice and the cycles of Karma. They believe that deeds from the past can revisit us at any point in time and need to be rectified in consultation with the divine elements. A Puja is a manifestation of this belief. Every individual from the Himalaya believes that they are the products of the soil in which they were born. The bond with the native village and its deities is quite strong. The myriad rituals performed here, ranging from the temple Pujas to the processions of the deities, are a means of re-establishing this relationship with the soil and with nature. It is important that we understand these divine experiences in their correct context.
(The author is a writer, traveler and anthropologist who lives in the Himalaya; views expressed are personal)
