FILLING THE VOID WITH GOD STUFF

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You can add up the parts but you won't have the sum

Leonard Cohen - Anthem



The coherent effect of religious belief on the social fabric of a society is often a more significant 'outcome' of a belief system than the truth or not of the belief system itself. In Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh, the so-called 'Valley of the Gods', this is very much apparent. The people are deeply religious and god-fearing. They live in one of the most spectacular settings on earth – the Himalayan foothills. The natural environment is magnificent and grand in the outplay of physical force, so much so as to have led the inhabitants to assign it supernatural powers. The mountains themselves are gods, together with an array of greater and minor (village level) deities. There is a particularly local mix of older shamanistic beliefs and practices intertwined with Hindu mythology and belief.

As an important caveat to all this, Kullu religious practice is, I dare-say, imbued with a high level of superstition which (as with all religion) can lead to irrational, restrictive and destructive behaviour. There is also an argument to say that the mix of creeping materialism and 'progress' with this religious backdrop is causing a disarray of the social fabric, and confusion and loss of meaning for local people.

Religious festivals are constant and frequent in Hindu India generally – and certainly Kullu seems to have a never ending sequence of events that are intrinsically enmeshed into the social, business, political, familial and spiritual life of the people. The traditional village life with its agricultural cycles of preparing, sowing, attending, and harvesting is very much imbued with spiritual meaning and ritual. Much of the region's population still live in relatively remote mountain villages, often with the only access being steep walking tracks.

While an outsider might view religious practices in absolute awe, it's none-the-less hard to take it all seriously …. until the penny drops that these very practices hold the social fabric together in a way that westerners might only dream to be possible. It would be easy to get too romantic about all this – but when one witnesses the way people show respect to elders and (in particular) to young children, the function of religion becomes all the more meaningful socially. The building of stocks in bonding and linking social capital is extremely high across the region.

As if designed to ensure that villagers remain in touch with each other, and to facilitate social interchange (including marriages), there is a long tradition (over 500 years) of taking images of deities out of their village temples and carrying them (sometimes many miles up and down steep mountainsides) to other villages for 'god visits' to mix it with the deity in that visited village. Of course there is usually great ceremony and celebration, including feasting to accompany these events. The processions are accompanied by much fanfare with sacred drums and horns being sounded along the way.

This practice of “airing the gods” as it has become affectionately called, occurs at any time but is more widespread around October (Dusserah). Again, the deities are a blend between shamanistic and Hindu gods. It seems that everyone has a different understanding and view of the deities – what they represent exactly and what powers they impart. In this practice, it may be that someone in a particular village invites the deity from another village to visit, whereupon everyone is fed and the visitors invariably stay at least one night before returning home; or someone outside the villages concerned might stipulate a visit with accompanying ceremony and food provided. The event might be to thank the god(s) for an answered prayer. Social networks are enhanced and extended through these occasions. The deities themselves are brought together to 'embrace'. The visits are sometimes but not always reciprocated.

Sometimes the 'meeting' takes place on neutral territory rather than in a village as such. While living in the village of Solhanu, I was privileged to attend a special religious event held on a narrow strip of 'sacred' terrace half way between Solhanu and the neighbouring village of Kohen. Both Hindu Brahmins (priests) and shaman Guren (or Gur) officiated. The Gur is believed to be the human receptacle of the local village deity through whom the deity communicates with the villagers. Food was prepared and portions firstly taken up above the small temple and placed on sacred stone mounds whereupon about a dozen crows (deities) swooped in with due magnificence to consume the offering. One man was dancing and pointing to this auspicious godly approval of the ceremony. A Gur distributed mustard seeds to those who came forward, the latter carefully counting to see if they received a number that indicated good luck and fortune. Food was distributed in sequential sittings on the grassed area, with it being notable and just fantastic how the children were served and fed first with great care – moving up the hierarchy until the most important guests were fed last.

The most well-known mega god-visiting goes on en masse at Kullu itself each October during the Hindu festival of Dussehrah. Hundreds of village deities from around the district are carried (well, these days it's not unusual to see them 'trucked'😉 to Kullu for a week of cultural and religious ceremony and celebration. Traditionally it was the King of Kullu who invited all the deities to attend.

Walking along forest tracks in the mountains in Kullu, it is not uncommon to come across shrines that appease the forest gods manifest in the sacred Deodar trees. These shrines contain offerings of all thing metallic, and the practice would seem to have a very ancient origin.

Without religion, the void would be all the more apparent.



For a thorough description of Kullu religious practice see “Of Metal and Cloths”:

http://daniela.berti.free.fr/IIAR_2_Chp3.pdf



Also see:

http://www.webindia123.com/himachal/people/religion.htm

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Photos

Airing the god
A procession passes through Jibhi from on its way to visit the deity in another village

Gods outing
This was at an annual ox fighting event culminating in the deities being aired and taken to the hosting village for festivities

Two village meet
The Brahmin and the Gur officiate in traditional religious dance ritual

Offering to the deity
This little temple stands between two villages at the place where these village deities came to meet

Feasting at the deity meet
Halwa, kir, dahl, chapatti, and rice are served - children first

Deity at Kullu Dussehrah
Each village deity is temporarily housed in a tent during the festival

Shrine of metal odds and ends
These shrines along pathways in the mountains are to appease the forest gods

Comments

[Marguerite]

Fascinating times
Really enjoying your experiences and adventures Paul. Travel hugs............Marguerite

[Robby]

Hi Paul, Time to write a travel book for people wanting special experiences in India. How many days was this over?

[Penny]

Temples
The little temples along the tracks and roads are reminiscent of the small shrines in Europe. Your descriptions and thoughts are most interesting, Paul, to this timid armchair traveler. Please keep them coming.