Folk practices prevalent in Punjab incorporate local mysticism and refer to the beliefs and practices strictly indigenous to the Punjabi people, of the Punjab region including ancestral worship, veneration of saints, and local festivals. There are many shrines in Punjab which represent the folk religion of the Punjab region which is a discourse between different organised religions.Replicating Memory, Creating Images: Pirs and Dargahs in Popular Art and Media of Contemporary East Punjab Yogesh Snehi These shrines represent inter-communal dialogue and a distinct form of cultural practice of saint veneration.Historicity, Orality and 'Lesser Shrines': Popular Culture and Change at the Dargah of Panj Pirs at Abohar," in Sufism in Punjab: Mystics, Literature and Shrines, ed. Surinder Singh and Ishwar Dayal Gaur (New Delhi: Aakar, 2009), 402-429
Roger Ballard (1999) classifies Punjab's folk religion into the kismetic (misfortune caused by fate, or supernatural beings) dimension of Punjabi religious life, alongside its panth (inspirational leadership), dharam (divine laws), and qaum (community construction) elements. The kismetic belief holds that misfortune can be caused by both unfulfilled, jealous spirits like bhuts (ghosts), dhags, jinns, and churails (witches), as well as by other people through the use of magic, including spells and incantations, and the evil eye (nazar). Various folk beliefs are also attached to almost all birds and animals, which serve as omens, vessels of powers, or sacrifices.
Alongside beliefs in folk heroes and ancestors, belief in mostly malevolent spirits, often resulting from untimely deaths and motivated by envy from unfulfilled desires relating to life milestones like childlessness, indulge in varying degrees of harm on the living. The nazar, causing misfortune and damage via jealous gazes, is most often targeted at one's family members, land and crops, and personal property, and protected against by amulets, customs, and various social mores, including humility.
The practice of folk beliefs are often accompanied by what has been called dhadi or folk ballads, that complement more institutionalized music forms like kirtan and qawwali.
Prevailing views present Punjabi folk religion as being remnants of older religious traditions or degenerated forms of organized religion, which H. S. Bhatti states is a misconception and that Punjabi folk religion consists of "processes of alternative conceptualizations".
Purposes Such functional, fluid folk religion often takes form in seeking out help in the form of those regarded as healers and spiritual masters, often in times of anxiety, grief, or anger, in regards to ancestors, family, and death, and within "cognitive frameworks of illness and healing."
Position in society Folk beliefs are most widespread in rural areas, and this "popular religion" has been described as the religious practices of Punjab's "subordinate social sector," with miracle-working saints, malevolent deities, evil spirits, witchcraft and other occult practices, and village sites, where these practices are often centered. Saint veneration often revolves around pirs, and along with the patronage of shrines whose lore drew freely from the normative traditions of formalized religions, was practiced syncretically across religious lines.
The shrines of such folk heroes as Gugga Pir and Sakhi Sarwar are made and managed by followers who are often excluded from frameworks of formalized "high" religions in East Punjab, as embodied by the Jat influence on Sikhism, by Brahminical Hinduism, or by Sharia Islam, and fall outside of the scope of such hegemonic institutions, especially as religious identity has become increasingly polarized. The sharpening of religious boundaries through revivalist and reformist movements in the region during colonial times also had an effect on the position of folk beliefs in Punjabi society, which often transcended such boundaries.
The first formal studies of Punjabi folk religion took place in 1971.
Despite being a crucial part of Punjabi religion, in which the inexplicable can be rationalized, its dismissal as superstition and the fact that it defies religious classification has meant that it has remained understudied. Its transcendence of religious boundaries is manifested in its eclectic integration of Sufi, bhakti, and tradition beliefs in the occult, possession, and exorcisms. According to Ballard, there is prejudice against this dimension of Punjab religious practice.
According to cultural historian Dr. Anne Murphy,
Folk deities, saints, and heroes There are three prominent cults associated with folk deities found in Indian Punjab: Gugga, Sakhi Sarwar, and Seetla. Gugga is also known as Jahir Pir whilst Seetla is also known as Mata Rani. The central figures of folk religion cults in Punjab is organized around ancestor figures or folk heroes, consisting of various legends and rituals associated with them. Gugga was a Rajput prince who became a Sufi pir and is venerated as a serpent-deity, Sakhi Sarwar is said to have come from Baghdad and is worshipped for the protection of children and animals. Seetla and her sisters are worshipped for protection and to guard against some pustulate diseases. These three figures were historically worshipped across Punjabi society, irrespective of caste and creed.
Cult of Seetla Mata
Seetla Mata, also known as Mata Rani, is a folk deity forming part of Punjabi folk religion. Seetla is the goddess of smallpox and is worshiped for its recovery. She also manifests herself in the form of chicken pox and is venerated for recovery.Folk Religion Change and Continuity by H S Bhatti Rawat Publications The cult of Seetla Mata belongs to prehistoric period and is linked to the Harrappa civilisation. On one of the seals found in Harrappa there are the figures of seven girls with long hair. These are believed to be Seetla Mata and her six sisters.Folk Religion Change and Continuity by H S Bhatti Rawat Publications Seetla Mata is worshiped in various parts of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. However, the origins and the form of worship varies from region to region.
Seetla Mata has been integrated into Hinduism, where she is known as Shitala. However, her birth is explained in a different manner to the legends prevalent in the Punjab. In Hinduism, she is known as Shitala and is not one of seven sisters.
Shitala is accompanied by Jvarasura, the fever demon, Oladevi, the cholera goddess, Ghentu-debata, the god of skin diseases, Raktabati, the goddess of blood infections and the sixty-four epidemics. Shitala is represented as a young maiden crowned with a winnowing-fan, riding an ass, holding a short broom (either to spread or dust off germs) and a pot full of pulses (the viruses) or cold water (a healing tool).
Seetla Mata is sometimes depicted as having six sisters,Folk Religion Change and Continuity by H S Bhatti Rawat Publications and at other times as the eldest of eight sisters, all of whom cause pustular diseases and are venerated for recovery. The sisters are: Masani, Basanti, Maha Mai, Polamde, Lamkaria, and Agwani. There shrines cluster around the central shrine of Seetla Mata. One of them is called Paharwali or of the mountain. In Punjabi, the shrines of the sisters of Seetla Mata are called "matya".Centre for Sikh Studies, University of California. Journal of Punjab Studies Fall 2004 Vol 11, No.2 H.S.Bhatti and D.M. Michon: Folk Practice in Punjab Another tradition names the sisters as Phulmati Mata, Chamariya Mata, Durga Kali, Maha Kali, Bhadra Kali, and Kalika Bhavani. Seetla Mata has the following features:Folk Religion Change and Continuity by H S Bhatti Rawat Publications
Her face is hideous. Her teeth are projecting. Her ears are as large as winnowing fan. Her eyes are huge. Mouth is wide open. She rides an ass. She carries a huge broom in one hand. She has a pitcher and an ewer in the other hand. She has a winnowing fan on her head. She has a snake as a whip.
Seetla Mata may be worshiped at any time of the year. However, the annual period of worship is the Punjabi month of Chait (March–April) as per the Punjabi calendar. Generally, she is worshiped early in the mornings of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
The month of Chait is important in Punjabi culture as it is the last month of the Punjabi calendar and is the season in which wheat ripens. Also, the season is of Basant (spring). One of Seetla Mata's name is Basanti and therefore, she represents the negative side of Basant and is therefore worshiped.Folk Religion Change and Continuity by H S Bhatti Rawat Publications Seetla Mata and her sisters reside on the trees of the neem (Azdiracta indica), kikar (Acacia arabica) or jand (Prosopis specigera).
The shrines are situated on the banks of ponds. The shrine itself are made of some bricks and have no regular priests.
The most important shrines at which large annual fairs are held are at the shrines of Seel village in Patiala and at the shrine of Jarg village in Ludhiana district.Folk Religion Change and Continuity by H S Bhatti Rawat Publications
Jarag fair is one of the important fairs of Punjab that is held in Jarg, a village in tehsil Pail and district Ludhiana. The fair is also known as Baheria Fair. It is organised in the month of Cheth (March–April), in the honor of the Seetla Mata. On the day of the fair, the devotees of Seetla Mata gather near the pond and scoop a portion of the earth to form a mound. The mound is revered as the shrine of the Goddess.
Prayers and pujas are conducted at the Jarg Fair. Sweet gulgula (jaggery cakes) are made one day prior to the fair and offered to the Goddess on the day of fair. The sweets are then offered to the donkeys, which are the favorite of the Goddess. Donkeys are specially decorated for the occasion, with potters cladding them in attractive colorful blankets. Some even put bells or conch shells and beads around their neck.
Temporary stalls are set up and the fair hosts cultural programmes.
Punjabi folk cosmology
Bhatti and Michon (2004), in their article Folk Practice in Punjab, published in the Journal of Punjab Studies by the University of California, believe that in Punjabi folk cosmology, the universe is divided into three realms:
English Punjabi Inhabitants Sky Akash Dev Lok (Angels) Earth Dharti Matlok (Humans) Underworld Nagas Naglok (Serpents)
Devlok is the realm of the gods, saints and ancestors, existing in akash, the sky. Ancestors can become gods or saints.
Punjabi ancestral worship Jathera—ancestral shrines
According to Thapliyal (1979), the practice of ancestor-worship in India was introduced by the Kushans, who themselves had adopted it from the Chinese. As a result, the cult of Devaputra ("son of heaven") formed in the subcontinent, where small-shrines, known as Devakulas, arose that were dedicated to ancestors (pitrs), however this ancestor-veneration was admonished by the Brahmins.
Jats, a large group of former nomads, had begun to turn to settled agriculture around the thirteenth century in central Punjab, facilitated by region's fertility and the use of the Persian water wheel. They brought with them their own beliefs centered on the worship of deities like Sakhi Sarwar and Gugga Pir, as well as their own independent social customs like widow remarriage and reverence for clan leaders, or vaderas, while building relationships with settled society, though often placed in the lower rungs of caste society. The Jats had a long-standing social tradition of egalitarianism.