Vindhya-bâsinî Devî, the personification of the Vindhyan range, is, as we have seen, the goddess of the Thags, and the Dhânuks, a thieving tribe in Behâr, worship one of their chiefs who was killed in a skirmish with the Muhammadans six hundred years ago, and whose ghost has since been troublesome. He is worshipped in a shrine of brick, and one of the members of the tribe acts as his priest.[46]
Râja Lâkhan.
We have already spoken of Gansâm, one of the tribal deities of the Kols. Another famous Kol deity in Mirzapur is Râja Lâkhan. One story of him is that he came from Lucknow, a legend based, of course, on the similarity of the name. But there can be no reasonable doubt that he was really Lakhana Deva, the son of the famous Râja Jaychand of Kanauj, who is known in the popular ballads as the Kanaujiya Râê. There is an inscribed pillar erected by him near Bhuili in the Mirzapur District, and he was perhaps locally connected with that part of the country in some way.[47] Some say that he was taken to Delhi, where he became a Musalmân, and the popularity of his name in the local legends points to the theory that he was possibly one of the leaders of the Hindus against the Muhammadan invaders. All this being granted, it is remarkable that he, a Râjput, and almost as much a stranger to those primitive jungle dwellers as his Muhammadan rival, should have found a place in the Drâvidian pantheon.
Râja Chandol.
Another deity of the same race is Râja Chandol, who is said to have been a jungle Râja of the Bhuiyâr tribe. He was attacked by his neighbour the Râja of Nagar, who overcame him and cut off his head. Meanwhile the conqueror forgot his patron deity, and his temple was overturned and the image buried in the earth. One day a goldsmith who was passing by the place heard a voice from beneath the ground saying that if he dug there he would find the idol. He did so, and, digging up the image, which was of gold, cut it up and sold it. But his whole household came to ruin, and then the Râja of Nagar restored the temple, and the Kols remembered Râja Chandol and have venerated him ever since.
Belâ.
The goddess Belâ was the sister of Lakhana Deva, whose story has been already told. Once, the story goes, Siva went to pay a visit to Hastinapura, and the bell of his bull Nandi disturbed the brothers Arjuna and Bhîma, who, thinking the god a wandering beggar, drove him out of the palace. Then he cursed the Râjput race that among them should be born two fatal women, who should work the ruin of their power. So first was born Draupadî, who caused the war of the Mahâbhârata, and after her Belâ, to whom was due the unhappy warfare which paved the way to the Musalmân invasion. Belâ now has a famous temple at Belaun on the banks of the Ganges in Bulandshahr.