The four foot high door into the temple of Marhai Mata forces most devotees to bow their heads. But such is the reverence for the deity’s healing powers, that scores of people who come from and around Marha village, bow anyway.
“If someone in your family is ill, you can come and pray to Bhagwati,” says Babu Singh. Like others seated under the spreading banyan tree, he is waiting for the puja to begin. Bhagwati is the goddess in this temple. “She will solve the problem – be it an illness or bhoot [ghost] or dayan [witch],” he adds confidently.
It’s a Wednesday, and the session is extra special – today the temple-priest (locally known as panda) will be possessed by the goddess. Through him, she will answer the questions the devotees have and offer solutions to their problems, usually around health.
The audience of devotees is mostly men from the villages of Gahdara, Koni, Kudan, Khamri, Majholi, Marha, Rakseha and Kathari Bilhata, but a few women are also present, veils firmly drawn over their heads.
“Aat gaon ke log aate hai, [people from eight villages come here],” says Bhaiyya Lal Adivasi, local priest and interpreter of maladies, as he gets busy for the afternoon. A Gond Adivasi, his family has been serving the goddess for many generations.










