Gansam Deo
Baiga · numen · Baiga traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Gansam Deo, also written Ghansyam Deo, is the Baiga deity invoked as a protector against the attacks of wild animals, a matter of daily gravity to a forest people living among tigers, bears and leopards. His cult, shared with neighbouring Gond and other Central Indian tribes, is directed to keeping both people and cattle safe when they enter or dwell near the jungle, and he is propitiated when a village is threatened by a man-eater or a beast raiding the herds.
Domains
- protection from beasts
Powers
- shields the people and herds from wild beasts
Epithets
- Gansam Deo — guardian against wild beastsStephen Fuchs, 'Baiga', Encyclopedia of World Cultures, vol. III (1992). (secondary)
Sources
- Gansam Deo (Ghansyam Deo) is the Baiga protector against attacks by wild animals.: Stephen Fuchs, 'Baiga', Encyclopedia of World Cultures, vol. III (1992). (secondary); R. V. Russell & Hira Lal, The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, vol. II (1916). (secondary)