The Stone Goddess

Adivasis and Brahmins stake claim over a deity who was worshipped by tribals as a stone for centuries before the stone became a multiarmed idol of a goddess all Hindus revere

- Asghar Khan

OUTSIDE the main gate of the Maa Dewri temple in a village near Jharkhand capital Ranchi, Muchiram Machua beats the nagada (drum) while devotees leaving the sacred premises drop notes of Rs 10 or Rs 20 on a red handkerchief laid out on the floor. "(Former Indian and Chennai Super Kings cricket captain Mahendra Singh) Dhoni was here just two hours ago," says the 45-year-old Muchiram, without letting even a second's pause break the tempo of his drumming. "He is a regular here. He comes here to worship the goddess. We shook hands when he visited 15 years ago." In fact, Dhoni's well-publicised visits have boosted the popularity of the temple like little else could and today visitors from across the country throng the place. "Many come from other parts of the world, too," adds Muchiram. While the flow of devotees has been a blessing to the local businesses, it has also drawn attention to a raging controversy over ownership and belonging that concerns the deity and the temple, as well as matters of faith and indigenous identity.

In its latest iteration, on September 5, 2024, a group of Adivasis had locked the gate to the temple, asking for a meeting where their stance could be heard by the local shopkeepers. The police got the locks opened in a few hours, and following protests by a non-Adivasi Hindu group that demanded action against those who locked the temple, arrested two Adivasileaders-Purnachandra Munda and Radhakrishna Munda-on September 8. Those who demanded the arrests claim that the land of the temple was registered under the khatiyan (land deeds) of 1932 in the name of Chamru Panda, a non-tribal who was then the Brahmin priest of Maa Dewri. The other side-those who locked the gate demanding to be heard-insist this could not be true as the land comes under Schedule V of the Constitution of India, which prohibits ownership of such land by non-tribals.