Since countless years ago, there have been conflicting claims about the existence, nature, and form of God. But those who have placed their faith in a form of God have been successful in their missions throughout history because of the strength of their faith. Thus, it is crucial to practise positive thinking in your worship and to have trust and belief in it. As far as the objective is concerned, God’s precise character or form is unimportant. In the early stages of the long evolutions of human civilization, men worshipped animal gods and their spirits. They then began to worship heroes, and then Gods who took on human form. In the end, these evolutionary tendencies gave rise to the idea of a formless God.
Boar:Panjurli
Animal worship was the first type of worship practised by humans in the Indian subcontinent, followed by spirit worship. Their primary concern was protecting crops from wild boars when early nomadic tribal people turned to agriculture and built habitations and colonies around their agricultural fields (6000 to 4000 BC). In the beginning, they were unable to control them or anticipate their strikes. They most likely also believed that these boars have a god that rules over them and hoped that by worshipping this god of the boars, they would be free from the bothersome boars. It appears that this is how early, primitive cultures started to worship pigs. The Tulu tribes’ “Panjurli” bhoota or “daiva” was known as the wild boar god.
Animal spirits are referred to as “bhoota” in this context. “Daiva” is a name for God. Various spirits were given heavenly rank (also known as “daiva”) by early societies, such as the primordial Tulu tribes. The early societies had the belief that even after death, all living things continue to exist as spirits. As a result, the idea of reincarnation was created.
Serpent:Naga
The serpent or cobra was a similar enigmatic creature that occasionally bit one of their members fatally and appeared suddenly around their settlements. Sometimes, for reasons that were unknown to them at the time, it did not bite. They were astounded by the snakes’ enigmatic ability to kill people with just one lethal bite. In the prehistoric tribal societies of the Indian subcontinent, this gave rise to the concept of serpent or Naga worship.
Both of these religions (Panjurli and Naga) were eventually incorporated into the pantheon of Indian deities. The early tribes’ renowned boar, Panjurli, evolved into Varaha, Vishnu’s third avatar.Naga worship was assimilated into Adishesha, the poetic mattress and apron for the reclining Vishnu, and the serpent around Shiva’s neck. In several locations in southern India, Murugan or Subramanya worship has since blended with Naga worship. With the migration of the Tulu tribes, the idea of Panjurli and Naga worship was brought from the northwest Indian subcontinent to Tulunad, where it is still practised today. The number of Spirit Gods has expanded throughout the course of the lengthy historical past, and individual Tulu families have long had a belief in particular ghosts. Even individuals who later adopted the worship of important Hindu deities like Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, and Shakti, or even Jainism, continue to fervently revere the spirits passed down via their families.
Fish God
In a similar line, it appears that the fish images seen on Indus Valley seals stand in for the Fish God, who was revered by the locals. The Indus and its tributaries’ frequent floods greatly alarmed the residents of the Indus valley. They may have had faith in the Fish God, who rules the rivers and the sea, to prevent floods. Long after the Indus Valley was destroyed, the memories of the Fish God civilisation persisted. The account was later incorporated into history as Vishnu’s original incarnation.
The bull or bison is yet another animal depiction that can be seen on Indus seals. The bull was then chosen as Shiva’s mode of transportation.
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