The buffalo roams our mythscape

New Indian Express

03-05-2025

Says Asko Parpola, 'Early Harappan cultures started moving toward the east and south in about 3,000 BCE. That the Harappan water-buffalo cult had reached peninsular India by the late Harappan or Chalcolithic times is suggested by the large bronze sculpture of a water buffalo discovered in 1974 at Daimabad in Maharashtra. Throughout south India, village goddesses have been worshipped through water buffalo sacrifices.'
The Vindhyas still have buffalo-totem worshippers like the Marias and Gonds, pastoral herders who wear buffalo horns on festive occasions and were gradually pushed into the forest by food-producers, probably goddess-worshipping Dravidians. The Marias also worship Danteshvari Devi—they worship both the victorious goddess and the defeated deity.
Mysuru, formerly Mahisha-ur, is named after Mahisha. A huge statue of a moustachioed figure of Mahisha holding a sword and a snake stands at the foot of the Chamundeshwari Hill, at the top of which stands the temple of Durga as Chamundi. There is a sub-caste called Mahishi in Karnataka, whose followers still worship the buffalo and goddess Chamundi. Less than 100 km from Mysuru are the Nilgiri Hills, home to the pastoral buffalo-worshipping Toda tribe, whose origins are shrouded in mystery. The vegetarian Todas venerate the buffalo, whose horns adorn their temples. So sacred are buffaloes to them that no other nearby tribe was allowed to own any. The cairns of the Nilgiris, deserted by the Todas, are called moriarumane or house of the Morias (Marias).
Mahishamati, south of river Godavari where the Gonds live, is also named after Mahisha. Founded by King Mahishmat (meaning rich in buffaloes), the region was ruled by Nila of Dakshinapatha, whose subjects were called Mahishakas. In Maharashtra, the demon Mahsoba (Mahisha+baa or father), killed by Parvati, is venerated by some castes. Both Mahishamati and Mahsoba are situated in the Vindhya region.
The Van Gujjars are a vegetarian Muslim tribe who never eat their buffaloes or sell them for slaughter. Buffalo milk is their main source of income and a staple food. Caring for the water buffaloes is the axis around which the tribe's world revolves. Bhils worship the buffalo as Bhainsaasur, who lives in the agricultural fields.
It's projected that the gentle buffalo god-king of the indigenous tribes was demonised by the food-producers who worshipped the mother goddess. The two came into conflict over land. The Karnataka communities who worship the buffalo were for centuries compelled by landlords to kill the buffalo and drink its blood as revenge-punishment, till the high court stopped the practice.
Before killing, the Devi drank wine. She is described as anarya, or non-Aryan, indicated by her appetite for wine and blood. Durga was a non-Vedic goddess of a non-Vedic people. She is aligned to Kali and the Matrikas, who are wild, bloodthirsty and fierce. She is a warrior who excels in battle. Mother goddess worship is popular in Dravidian cultures, whereas Vedic gods were mostly male.
Durga and Mahisha were deities of agricultural and pastoral peoples. Their mythic fight probably signified that of their followers.
(Views are personal)
Nanditha Krishna
Historian, environmentalist and writer based in Chennai