Stories 7
Tradition: Tribal · clear
Lingo frees the gods from Mahadeo's cave
Shiva as Mahadeo seals the Gond gods in a cave; Parvati searches for them; the hero Lingo lifts the stone, frees them and founds Gond society.
Mahishasura's boon: no man shall kill him
The buffalo demon Mahishasura wins a boon that no man can kill him.
Nanga Baigin nails down the earth
The new earth wobbles like mud until Bhagavan sends for Nanga Baiga, whose wife drives nails into its four corners.
Nila Madhava and the unfinished images of Puri
King Indradyumna's priest finds Nila Madhava worshipped by a Sabara chief; the image vanishes; new images are carved from a sea-borne log and left unfinished when the carver is disturbed.
Singbonga and the clay-divers
The Munda sun god sends a tortoise, a crab and an earthworm to fetch clay from under the waters; the smallest succeeds and the earth is made.
Thakur Jiu and the two birds
The Santal creator makes two water-birds over the primal sea; from their eggs come the first man and woman, and no Puranic god appears.
The fish that warned the Bhils
A fish warns a brother and sister of a flood; afterwards Bhagwan, or in one telling Rama, sends them to repeople the world.