well-established theme of the temporal
ruler bowing to the spiritual adept. For
further information on traditional
sources, see Winand Callewaert (trans.),
The Hindi Biography of Dadu Dayal,
- See also Moghul dynasty.
Dadupanth
Religious organization founded by the
santpoet-saint Dadu(1554–1603). The
Dadupanth is strongest in Rajasthan,
the desert state in which Dadu is
believed to have lived. The Dadupanth
stresses religious themes common to
the sant poet-saints: the rejection of rit-
ual and imageworshipin favor of an
internal search for a formless deity,
stress on the power of the divine Name,
and a belief in the relative unimpor-
tance of conventional castedistinc-
tions. It also emphasizes certain points
that were particularly important to
Dadu himself, among them nonvio-
lence (ahimsa), vegetarianism, and the
religious value of work. The Dadupanth
has always been a numerically small
organization, but they are historically
important because of their manuscript
collections. These collections are
known as the “five voices” (panchvani),
because they contain the works of five
different devotional (bhakti) poets:
Dadu, Kabir, Namdev, Ravidas, and
Hardas. Rajasthan’s desert climate has
helped to preserve these manuscripts,
some of which date from the early sev-
enteenth century. The Panchvani man-
uscripts are among the earliest sources
for all of these poets, which makes them
an important resource for the historical
study of northern Indian devotional
poetry. For further information on the
literary resources of the Dadupanth, see
Winand Callewaert (trans.), The
Sarvangi of the Dadupanthi Rajab,1978;
and The Sarvangi of Gopaldas, 1993.
Dadupanthi Nagas
Particular group of Naga (fighting)
ascetics associated with the religious
community (panth) established by the
western Indian poet-saint Dadu. The
Nagas are renunciant ascetics orga-
nized into different akharas, or regi-
ments based on the model of an army.
Until the beginning of the nineteenth
century the Nagas’ primary occupation
was as mercenary soldiers, although
they also had substantial trading inter-
ests; both of these have largely disap-
peared in contemporary times. In the
bathing (snana) processions at the
Kumbha Melafestivals (“Festivals of the
Pot”), the Dadupanthi Nagas march
with the chatuh-sampradayi Nagas,
who are devotees (bhakta) of the god
Vishnu, but are considered indepen-
dent of them. According to tradition,
the Naga section of the Dadupanthwas
established by Sundardasa, one of
Dadu’s direct disciples.Daita
Tribal (adivasi) community in the mod-
ern state of Orissa. The Daitas are
hereditary temple servants at the tem-
ple of the god Jagannathin the city of
Puri. Jagannath has been brought into
the larger Hindu pantheon by identify-
ing him as a form of the god Krishna,
but he is originally believed to have
been a local, tribal deity. This history is
partly inferred from Jagannath’s rela-
tionships with the Daitas themselves,
who are considered Jagannath’s rela-
tives, even though their social status is
very low. This relational connection
gives the Daitas several unique roles.
During the annual Rath Yatra, a cere-
monial procession in which Jagannath,
his brother Balabhadra, and their sister
Subhadraare processed around the city
in giant wooden chariots, the Daitas
convey the deities’ giant wooden
images from the temples to the chariots
and pull the ropes that draw the carts.
An even more important role comes
when new images of the deities are con-
structed, usually every twelve or nine-
teen years. The Daitas carve the new
images, each from a single massive log.
When the new image has been completed,
the oldest Daita removes a wooden plugDadupanth