Historical Period10c CE
10th c. CE onwards
📷 Sumod K Mohan · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · source
Deities
Nanda Devī
Nanda Devī — patron goddess of Kumaon
Nanda Devī — patron goddess of Kumaon
This entry honours the self-representation of Hindu tradition. India's sacred landscape includes hundreds of traditions beyond the Brahminical-Vedic canon. Each has its own cosmology, priesthood, ritual calendar, and relationship with the sacred landscape. Each deserves first-person recognition.
Nanda Devī is the tutelary goddess of Kumaon and Garhwal. The mountain Nanda Devī (7,816m, India's 2nd-highest peak) is considered her physical abode. Every 12 years, the Nanda Devī Rājajāt Yātrā — a 280-km Himalayan pilgrimage — carries her palanquin through 30+ villages over 3 weeks. A ram with four horns leads the procession; the ritual is attested from 10th c. CE. The final destination is Hom Kund (4,900m) where pilgrims scatter offerings and return home without looking back.
Jay Nanda
Drawn from scholarly ethnographies of Indian tribal and regional religions (Roy, Vidyarthi, Sinha, Fuchs, Sarkar, Sontheimer, Kinsley), colonial-era gazetteers, and contemporary community documentation.
