Gods, avatars and forms
Ayyappa
Ayyappan · Manikandan · Manikantha · Dharma Shasta · Hariharaputra · Hariharasuta
The god of Sabarimala, held in Kerala to be the son of Shiva and Vishnu-as-Mohini, born to kill the buffalo-demoness…
Aiyanar
Ayyanar · Shasta · Hariharaputra · Ayyanayake
Guardian god of the Tamil village boundary, shown on horseback with a sword, with a shrine outside almost every…
Manasa
Manasa Devi · Bishahari
The snake goddess of Bengal, called in the mangalkavya a neglected daughter of Shiva, who wins worship by force from…
Brahm Baba
Baraham Baba · Brahma Sthan
A village-protector deity of Mithila who lives in a peepal or banyan west of the village and is honoured with earthen…
Nanda Devi
Nanda · Gaura
The mountain goddess of Garhwal and Kumaon, honoured as the Himalaya's daughter and as a young bride leaving her…
Karuppasamy
Karuppu · Karuppanna Swamy
A dark-skinned Tamil village guardian who is worshipped beside Aiyanar and, in the Sanskritised telling, folded in as…
Madurai Veeran
Veeran
A deified Tamil folk hero of the Madurai region, worshipped as a guardian and counted among Aiyanar's attendants in the…
Panjurli
Panjurli Daiva
A boar-spirit guardian of the Tulu-speaking coast, worshipped in Bhuta Kola; the paddanas tell how a piglet raised by…