The excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro lend great weight to the belief that the tradition of worship has been going on since ancient times. Whatever people were afraid of, they used to start worshiping it to please it. Earlier people used to worship nature, then started worshiping in their homes, which later became known as the worship of a gotra or clan. Similarly, for the safety of their residence or village, to keep them away from divine or physical or natural calamities like fire, flood, epidemic, external invasion, etc., the village deity or family deity, Gram Devta or Kul Devta was established on the border of the village.
There has been an interdependent relationship between humans and deities. First God created man, then man created God, in other words, if it is said that man cannot live without God and God’s existence is zero without man, then it is not considered an exaggeration.
Gram devta are mostly goddess
It has been found that in most parts of India, the gram devta are female, such as Satti Mai, Kali Mai, Durga Mai, Chandimai, Sheetla Mai, etc.; but in some places, there are also male deities, such as Bhairon Baba, Bajrang Bali, Brahma Shankar, Nandi etc. etc.
Location of Gram devta
These holy places established at some time outside the village or on the border, used to be in the middle of such desolate, deserted fields, or groves, where due to low population, terrible tmosphere, legends of various types of ghosts, witches, etc are famous.
Appearance of Gram devta
Used to relieve humans from the fear arising from development and trend. New red, and yellow, cloth or flags or Trishul, vermilion painted stone figures, etc. tied to the branches of huge trees of Peepal or Banyan used to provide them psychological protection from demonic or phasic tendencies, natural and man-made calamities. Symbol of their strong faith and belief, this god of justice acts as a judge to settle their mutual and social disputes. He had deep faith that if a powerful person grabs his property, and tortures him without any fault, then these deities will surely punish the aggressor.
Apart from this, many sacred trees and shrubs like Peepal, Banyan, Banana, Bael, Shami, Tulsi, Amla, etc; animals, and snakes were also worshiped. Bhajan kirtan used to happen from time to time, due to which their spiritual powers were strengthened even more.
Since ancient times…
Even in the monarchy, for the external and internal security of the city or village, the kings used to install idols of the village or city deities. And their method was to get Vat worship done, except for the king, all the people of that area worshiped him for the happiness and peace of their family and on auspicious occasions such as the birth of children, mundan, upanayana, marriage, etc. First of all, they would invite that most respected and prestigious place, and then go there and show their deep devotion, loyalty, and faith. After the end of the Bali tradition, in many places, people offer earthen elephants, horses, or some such symbolic things in fulfillment of vows, although the practice of animal sacrifice is still heard in some communities.
Ancient temples of Gram devtas has its glory till now
In different villages, based on their community or caste, people established their deities. The ancient temples that are in today’s big cities or metros, their form were once in the form of a village or city’s protector, public welfare factor, and infinite Shakti Punj. Mumba Devi was once the village goddess of Mumbai. Similarly Ujjain has Bhuki Mata Temple.
ven today their glory has not diminished. There are many gods and goddesses in the mountains too, whom the local people consider to be the protectors of their area, and when they get angry, talking about a terrible holocaust, an example of which was linked to the holocaust of Kedarnath. Even today, in many tribal-dominated areas, people worship this village deity once a year, by singing and dancing with drums, major, pipahi, and celebrating it on a large scale.
Undoubtedly, this path of spirituality shown by our memorable sages, sages, ancestors, etc. to make our human life better and happier by getting new consciousness from Prana Vayu, from immense positive energy spread in nature, is amazing, ultimately scientific.
All these are included in the thirty-six crore gods and goddesses of Sanatan Dharma. People depicted their gods according to their caste and occupation.