Maa Dewri Temple

Sixty kilometres out of Ranchi, on the right of the Tata road as you near Tamar, a two-acre compound holds a 700-year-old image of a sixteen-armed village goddess. The old stonework was interlocked without chalk or any binding material, and the earlier name, Dewri Diri, meant simply the sacred stone of Diuri village. What makes it unusual is who conducts the worship: tribal Pahans for six days, a Brahmin Panda for one. Bamboo poles carry yellow and red threads, tied for a wish and untied when it is granted.