Dev Narayan

Dev Narayan, a folk deity worshipped in Rajasthan and north west Madhya Pradesh, was born to Shri Savai Bhoj and Sadu Mata Gurjari in 911 AD. However some historians are of the view that he lived between 1200-1400AD.

Shri Saval Bhoj, a Bagaravat, was killed in a battle by Rana, King of Ran city. Sadu Mata gave birth to Dev Narayan after eleven days of severe penance on a hill near the battle field. Fearing for her life, she fled to her maternal home in Malwa where Dev Narayan spent his childhood unaware of his past. One day Chochu Bhat, the bard and genealogist of 24 Bagaravats, came in search of Dev Narayan and narrated the story of the battle between the Rana and Bagaravats. Dev Narayan, against the wishes of his mother, planned to avenge his father’s death, In due course he was united with his cousins and together they fought the Rana who was beheaded by Dev Narayan’s bow string. One of his cousins, who was adopted by the Rana, was saddened by his foster father’s death. Seeing this, Dev Narayan revived Rana and directed him to establish the city of Udaipur.

Thereafter Dev Narayan’s wife, Queen Pipalde, gave birth to a son and a daughter. The son refused to accept Dev Narayan’s greatness but subsequently realised his father’s divinity. He agreed to look after the first Dev Narayan temple after Dev Narayan departed for the heavenly abode.

The saga of his life and deeds is sung by the Bhopas, the traditional priest singers of Dev Narayan, at night from November to July in the villages of Rajasthan and Malwa. The epic of Dev Narayan is recited with the help of a Phad. This is a large scroll of cloth, normally 30 feet long, which is painted with the legend of Dev Narayan in bright colours and used as a backdrop by the Bhopas. The Dev Narayan Katha is divided into two main parts Bagaravat Bharata and Dev Narayan Katha.