Gods of the High Hills

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About the Book The unique and fascinating heritage of the Himalayan region about the dancing gods is stile virtually unknown to the scholars and general readers. The mountain region of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh abounds in abundant treasures of religion and mythological materials. In this book, perhaps for the first time in any language of the world, an unknown cult has been dissected threadbare which is as dear to its devotees and holds its sway in spite of all modern advancements. The author has worked hard for decades to prepare and update this opus. The present work is an outcome of his extensive research, study, discussions and dialogues with thousands of persons at several places to highlight this splendid heritage.

About the Author Born in 1936, in the princely state of Mandi, Dr. B.L Kapoor had his early education at Bijai High School and Government College, Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

He attained his MBBS degree from Medical College Patiala and later qualified as an Eye & ENT specialist from Panjab University, Institute of Ophthalmology Aligarh and M.S. University of Baroda. His articles and write-ups have been published both in English and Hindi by all the national dailies and periodicals. His attempts to unfold the events of History and contents of Archeology have earned him a reputation of his own; unparallel in many ways.

His maiden book on the History and Traditions of Himachal got published in 1976 and brought him Academy award. The book again appeared in the revised edition in 1994.

His other works include two volumes of essays, a travelogue and a book on diseases of eye for neo-literates. A book on the History & Heritage of Kingdom of Mandi is about to be released.

Dr. B.L. Kapoor after a distinguished career as a medical-professional and medical administrator retired as a District Chief Medical Officer after serving five districts in that capacity. He resides at Mandi town in Himachal Pradesh.

Preface The subject matter of this book remained a dearest treasure of knowledge and pleasure to my heart since childhood. Dating back to roughly six decades, my earliest memory of preschool days reveals an annual offer of a silver coin of rupee one, to one of the gods under review and it was Deo Katauni Narain of ilaka Chuhar of the then Mandi State. This present was offered by my mother through her brother and my maternal uncle during annual Shivaratri fair of Mandi, the capital town of the state. Whenever they said Deo was not spotted or the services of her brother were not readily available, the coin was deposited by her in a separate comer of her almirah as 'Bandha' or security for next year, which was duty fully and devotionally passed on to the attendants of the god. On my repeated inquiry, on many an occasion about this special offer to this special deo, I could not get any satisfactory reply. She was a lady of a few words, very emotional, very sympathetic but secretive about her losses and gains Some time her gestural reply used to be very simple that it is for your raksha i.e. protection. My inquisitiveness did not halt at this point. Furthermore I used to find out why only Deo Katauni Narain why not others who were superior in order of precedence, attractive in decoration and were retained in Raja's Palace a great honor at that point of time. But her silence was perpetual and she never disclosed the facts of the matter to me. Her practice remained unbroken till the states merged to form Himachal Pradesh and Shivratari found old god like Katauni Narain missing but her 'deposit' for him went on accumulating. When she moved with me from place to place after my joining as an Eye-specialist of Himachal Pradesh Health Services, her silver coin was duly dispatched to her brother as her tribute and offering to the 'Deo' That devotional practice of her did not cease even after she left for her heavenly abode in 1980. I took up the thread and still do not foregut to offer some money as and when Deo Katauni Narain is spotted in the annual Shivaratri fair. Now silver coin. being a thing of past, some currency notes are offered to keep up the inherited practice.

Also, had occasion to live for a few months with both my father and mother in the hinterland of Saraj, where my father had a flourishing business of money-lending in my preschool days. Although, his main kathayar was in village Chaura, yet his area of trade was far beyond in ilakas of Magaru, Mangarh, Bagra, Sainj, Janjahali and beyond the territory of Mandi state in the adjoining areas of Suket and Kullu. Here was the principality of Deo Magaru Mahadev, whose abode bhandari.e., treasury and dehra i.e., temple were located in village Chhatri near our house at Chaura. Actually during that stay at that tender age of five or less, I got in touch with the details of the devatas of high hills, as I describe them here. Due credits go to my parents, who had deep faith in them and got my own initial schooling and primary information from them. The other source of information were the large number of villagers of all genders and ages, ranging from very old, to young of my age, who used to glorify the mighty and majesty of these gods.

Introduction A lady hailing from Britain was on her trekking in Kullu-Mandi parts of the western Himalayas in the early sixties on her pony. Really a wonderful attempt to behold the cultural heritage of this ancient land in so many ways. In her sojourn, she suddenly had an encounter with a party of several hill folks going along with their god, called deo by the people. The vivid and picturesque portrayal of the procession in her own words projects that cult both beautifully and precisely.

"Just as we were approaching the little river side hamlet of Thalot, the most exciting thing happened heared enthralling never-to-be-forgotten strains of a Himalayas temple band coming from somewhere above in the rocky hill to my right. I leapt from the mule and rushed up the khud just in time to see the first man appear over the brow of a bare brown hill, carrying an enormous red and white standard. Next came the musicians, a few flautists, a few drummers; the men blowing curved serpents-resembling these used in English churches in the eighteenth century-and another two carrying six feet silver trumpets over their shoulders. These are so heavy that the musicians have to stand still to blow them and can only do so for about thirty seconds at a time. The flutes play runny tunes, the serpents arpeggios, and the drums thrilling rhythms and the great trumpets blare out octaves with such compelling force that is tempted to apostatize on the spot and throw myself down before the devata: it is real primeval sacre du Printemps stuff which would surely intoxicated Stravinsky.

Mean-while I was leaping from rock to rock like a mountain goat with two cameras hanging round my neck clicking first one and then the other so that got some black and white photographs for this book and a color sequence for the whole procession which I can never hope to equal.

At the end of the band the devata himself appeared attached to a rath, a wooden palanquin slung on long poles resting on the shoulders of two young men. As he approached I signaled the bearers to halt, which they were delighted to do, while photographed the group and enquired the name of the god, which learnt was Markanda, the Hindi form of Markandeya, a defied Vedic sage. Like all the village gods of these hill region; the processional image consists not of a single figure but of several metal masks which are fixed on to the rath on ceremonial occasons but otherwise kept in the bhandar, the temple treasury Brightly coloured stuffs are hung below the masks and gilded wooden chhatar (umberella) is struck above them- at least on the palanquins of the Seraj and Mandi devatas, whereas in Kulu they are decorated with several metal chhatris. The devata was followed by a crowd of devotees and when the untidy procession crossed over the tarred road I suddenly realised that the god was being carried down to the Beas to bathe... The ritual ablution consisted of tipping the rath right over three times so that the tip of the chhatri touched the water, and whenever it did so the whole band struck up with a trumphant blare Markanda was then taken back to the road where he started to dance the two young men carrying him furthering the rath over first to one side then to the other, jogging it up and down on their shoulders as they did so. when the dancing was over the devata was set down to rest under a precipice."

**Contents and Sample Pages**