Of The Very Hindu Bhootas And Boars

The phenomenal success of the movie Kantara, cutting across the linguistic boundaries, is the celebration of that fundamental law about India - unity in diversity.

The director of the movie, Rishab Shetty, not only reiterated that statement but also emphasized the basic Hindu nature of the film's theme.

This in turn sent shock waves among 'Breaking India' (BI) forces.

The 'BI' forces have invested much in conflict and binary narratives. Here are a few such binaries: 'Brahmin versus Non-Brahmin', 'Tribal versus non-Tribal', 'Dalit versus non-Dalit', 'Aryan versus Dravidian' 'Folk Deities versus 'Brahminical' Deities'.

Irrespective of their language, irrespective of their own Ishta-devata, Grama-devata and Kula-Devata, the audience become Sahridhya with the Deities of a forest deep in Karnataka.

Naturally the 'BI' forces are furious and hence want to rake up a controversy where none exists. They have to invent a fault-line where even a ghost of fault-line does not exist.

So, in the case of Kantara, they have zeroed in on the term 'Bhootas'.

Produced below at some length is a typical binary-conflict-oriented model article arguing how 'Bhootas' are not Hindu!

Already a clinical rebuttal has been written for such falsity by Ms. Harsha Bhat here.

In this article we see Bhootas from a pan-Indian perspective.

Srimad Valmiki Ramayana speaks of the Yajna Purusha of the Vedic Yajna that Dasaratha conducted for the birth of children as 'mahat bhuutam' (1.16.14).

Varna-based Bhootas of Chilapathikaram

Chilapathikaram, the great Tamil epic-poem, speaks of four Bhootas - protecting the settlements of the four Varnas.

Bhootas In 'Brahminical' Temples:

Bhootas or Bhoota Ganas are part and parcel of the retinue of Shiva.

For example, in a striking panel at Kanchi Kailasanatha temple one can see the Bhoota Ganas playing at Kailasa.

Indra gets irritated at the behaviour of the Ganas and is saved in time by Brahma and others from getting burned by Shiva in the form of Bhoota Gana.

The temple was built is 1300 years old. The panel relates to the origin of Jalandhara.

In Kanyakumari district, at the southernmost end of the Indian mainland, many agricultural villages have shrines dedicated to Bhootas.

Across India thus one can find similar organic bonds between Bhootas, Devatas and other 'main' Hindu Deities. They share features, Puranic roots, rituals and sacred space.

It takes enormous amount of cultural illiteracy to state that Bhootas are not part of Hindu Dharma.

Now let us look at the instance of Panjurli - the Bhoota that plays the crucial role in the film.

According to 'one social media writer':

So the movie becomes an 'attempt at appropriating folk traditions of Tulunadu.'

Again in her brilliant article, Harsha Bhat has brought out the Saivaite-oriented tradition of the genesis of Panjurli and the subsequent descent to earth to bring righteousness and well being of all.

This account was written at least 150 years before Kantara hit the screens. This version recorded by A.C.Burnell clearly shows a typical Puranic format in which the boar form emanates from Narayana Himself.

Now a colonised mind may ask if this is not another proof for the process of early appropriation by 'Brahminical Hinduism' of a 'non-Aryan folk deity'?

Despite naming the paper on Panjurli as the 'Devil Worship' in a display of characteristic Christian judgementalism, Burnell had honestly recorded the content of the narration of the Panjurli origin.

So much for 'Brahminical appropriation' to suppress tribal communities through casteism! Incidentally one can see this passage resonate with the verse of Bhagavad Gita (15:16) where Sri Krishna calls the one who considers himself high born as of Asuric nature.

Varahi is one of the Sapta-Matas worshipped throughout India.

The Problem and the solution - the Ganesha Model:

The problem with those who see the invoking of Varaha in the context of Panjurli as 'appropriation' suffer from the colonised Indological-Marxist bias or ideological vested interest arising out of mental-colonialism.

Kantara is quite the formidable first step in overcoming this colonialism-inflicted wound.

The Hindu worldview provides an alternative way to look at our society and culture, traditions and their diversity.

The head of Ganesha is that of an animal. Yet it is His head that incorporates in it Pranava-Swarupa.

The four hands as well as the chest combines the Divine Daiva features in an anthropomorphic form.

The shortened legs are typical of Bhootas in Hindu iconography. They are the Bhoota features.

All these divergent features merge organically and form a seamless whole - which in turn gives those who meditate upon this form earthly success and spiritual liberation.

For Hindu culture the multiplicity and variant forms are not sources of conflict but symbols of diversity in the context of integral unity. A social science based on this understanding of Hindu civilisation and values is what India requires.