| These are all
benign deities of the second order. Deep faith in them and their worship are not enough to
have complete freedom from a lingering fear of the many malevo- lent spirits of the hills,
forests, springs or lakes that may be lurking about and have to be kept satisfied. So we
find the fife of the average Himachali deeply imbued with faith and worship. But the village god or sidha is held to be inferior in status to the
three other deities higher in status, namely, Durga or Devi, Siva and Vishnu in their
different manifes- tations. Hindu mythology supplies the background of the various
manifestations and the legends are the source of great inspiration and faith. The idols
are made and brought and very often we are told that the icons were accidentally found or
revealed themselves in dream or were swayambhus and came out them selves.
Some of the deities have their own priests and their
services have to be engaged for offering worship. It is also peculiar in Himachal that for
some of the temples the worshipper has to take his own priests. Also the priestly class
does not necessarily come from the Brahmin caste. |
