Mythology has it that Rambha, the demon son of Rishi Kashyapa and a danava, married a mahishi or buffalo. They had a son, Mahisha, who became king of the mahishas or buffalo-people. Mahisha lived in the Vindhyas and by practicing severe austerities gained strength to drive the gods out of heaven. From the energies directed by Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva emanated Durga or Vindhyavasini, a 10-armed woman, holding various gods’ weapons in her palms. Mahisha’s warriors tried to fight the Devi. She killed each with a different weapon. As Durga approached the Vindhyas, the demon attacked her in several forms, each of which was destroyed by Durga. Finally, he took the form of the buffalo, whom she pinned down and killed with her sword. Devi Mahatmyam of the Markandeya Purana describes their battle as violent, although the buffalo is a gentle animal.
Along with the Puranic killing of Mahisha by Devi, we have the popular folk ritual of sacrificing male buffaloes to local forms of the Devi in India and Nepal. Rajasthani Charans sacrifice them to the goddess Pithad. Kolis, Vaghir, Dharalar, Raharis and Ravalias of Maharashtra sacrifice them to goddess Khodyaayi. In eastern India, they are sacrificed to Kali, and in southern India to Kali and several local goddesses.
Buffaloes are killed in thousands for Gadhimai at a ritual festival at Bariyarpur, Nepal. The killings are terrible, suggesting an act of anger against the animal, reliving the mythic confrontation. The early sculptures of Mahisha-mardini depict a particularly gory killing of the buffalo by throttling it to death, until the Pallavas, formerly Jains, sculpted the buffalo demon as an anthropomorphic figure, even cowering in fear on a Mahabalipuram relief. This tradition probably goes back to ancient Egypt, where people identified with animal deities.
Who was this buffalo demon? The earliest appearance of the buffalo is in the Indus civilisation seals, either alone or grazing, throwing around several people, or being speared by a man. What is more striking is that the famous three-faced horned male figure seated in yogic moolabandhana pose on several seals, including the famous Pasupati seal, wears buffalo horns. To some he was a buffalo deity.
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