Note 1 — Chapter II · THE HEROIC AND VILLAGE GODLINGS.

The local position of the shrine very often defines the status of the deity. To many godlings of this class is allotted the duty of acting as warders (dwârapâla) to the temples of the great gods. Thus, at the Ashthbhuja hill in Mirzapur, the pilgrim to the shrine of the eight-armed Devî meets first on the road an image of the monkey god Hanumân, before he comes into the immediate presence of the goddess. So at Benares, Bhaironnâth is chief police officer (Kotwâl) or guardian of all the Saiva temples. Similarly at Jageswar beyond Almora we find Kshetrapâl, at Badarinâth Ghantakaran, at Kedârnâth Bhairava, and at Tungnâth Kâl Bhairon.1 In many places, as the pilgrim ascends to the greater temples, he comes to a place where the first view of the shrine is obtained. This is known as the Devadekhnî or spot from which the deity is viewed. This is generally occupied by some lower-class deity, who is just beginning to be considered respectable. Then comes the temple dedicated to the warden, and lastly the real shrine itself. There can be little doubt that this represents the process by which gods which are now admittedly within the inner circle of the first class, such as the beast incarnations of Vishnu, the elephant-headed Ganesa, and the Sâktis or impersonations of the female energies of nature, underwent a gradual elevation.