The Development of Hindu Iconography c16.2

c16.2

It has been shown in Chapter III of this book how the element of *Bhakti* ushered in striking changes in the religious outlook of a large section of the people of India. This element had long been present in the country especially among the previous settlers and the lower orders of the Indians, who used to offer homage and adoration (*pūjā*) to the gods and goddesses of their choice. These deities were different in their essential traits from those venerated by the higher orders of the people, most of whom had their moorings in the Vedas. The transformation of a few of the latter into central deities of various orthodox cults originating in the post-Vedic period, and the appearance of newer sectarian deities as a result of the deification of some of the historical, semi-historical and mythical personages of ancient India seem to have been much influenced by the beliefs and practices of the primitive Indians. With the rise to importance of these newer cult-deities, the primitive folk gods and goddesses were relegated to the position of inferior or secondary deities described in early Jaina texts as Vyantara Devatās. In the changed set-up of the religious life of the people, most of them became accessories and attendants of the chosen divinities of the various sectaries, or of their principal aspects, while others appeared in the role of the opponents of the higher gods. But there can be no doubt that it was these primitive deities and their worship, which lay at the root of the evolution of the various cults associated with Brahmanical Hinduism, and to a certain extent with the development of Buddhism and Jainism. One of the five recognised Brahmanical Hindu cults, *viz.*, that of Gaṇapati, retained to a great extent in the iconic type of its central deity its primitive form, and some of the forms of the principal deities of the other major Brahmanical cults seem to have been appreciably influenced by the earlier image types of the various folk divinities.