Historical Period14c CE
11th–14th c. CE; continuous worship since
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Deities
Pabuji
Pābūjī Rāṭhauṛ — 14th-century Rajput deified hero
Pābūjī Rāṭhauṛ — 14th-century Rajput deified hero
No primary scriptures are catalogued for this entry yet. If you know of scriptural references we have missed, please contribute them.
Pābūjī Rāṭhauṛ is a 14th-century Rajput chieftain of Marwar who died defending the honour of a woman's cattle from Jīndrāv Khīñcī. His epic — the Pābūjī-kī-Paṛ — is painted on a 30-foot scroll carried by itinerant Bhopa priests and sung through the night.
The Rajasthani folk-hero cults of Baba Ramdev, Pabuji, Gogaji, Tejaji, and Meḥājī represent a living non-Brahminical religious stratum centred on ethics of honour (parcā), promise-keeping, cattle-protection, and the oath-bound warrior. These deities are worshipped primarily by Jāṭ, Rājput, and Mer communities, but also by Dalit groups (Meghwal) and Muslim Rajasthanis. Their epics — Pābūjī-kī-Paṛ, Rāmdev-Rāsā, Gogājī-ke-jhālle — are sung through the night by itinerant Bhopa priests, using painted scrolls (paṛ), single-stringed rāvaṇahatthā, tambourines.
Their shrines rarely have Brahmin priests; the rituals are conducted by community elders. Offerings are cooked food (especially rōṭ and millet breads), coconut, turmeric, red cloth, and cash pledges.
