districts of Garhwal, TehriGarhwal,
Dehra Dun, Chamoli, and Uttarkashi.
The Garhwal region contains all the
major tributaries of the Ganges: the
Bhagirathi, the Mandakini, the
Pindara, and the Alakananda. It also
contains many of the holiest sacred sites
(tirthas) in the Himalayas, including
Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and
Badrinath. In the eighteenth and nine-
teenth centuries, under the patronage of
the king of the state of Tehri, the region
was also one of the centers for the
Paharischool of miniature painting.
Garibdas
(early 18th c.) Founder of the Garibdasi
religious community. Garibdas was born
in the Rohtak district in what is now the
state of Haryana. Garibdas did not have
a human guru. Instead, he claimed to
have received his religious initiation
from the poet-saint Kabir, who
appeared to him in a dream. Garibdas
was a householder, as were his immedi-
ate disciples. Under one of their later
leaders the Garibdasis renounced their
possessions and became an ascetic
community. Garibdas preached and
taught on a number of subjects and was
a well-respected and influential reli-
gious reformer.
Garibdasi
Religious community founded by
the religious reformer Garibdas(early
18th c.). The Garibdasi community
was originally made up of household-
ers, but was fundamentally altered by
one of the later leaders, Swami
Dayaludasa. Under his direction, the
community renounced their posses-
sionsand became an asceticsect. The
Garibdasis have more than one hun-
dred centers in northern India, mainly
concentrated in the regions of Uttar
Pradesh and Haryana around pre-
sent-day New Delhi, where Garibdas
lived during his life.
Garuda
A mythical bird, often portrayed as an
Indian kite or eagle. All of the Hindu
deitieshave animal“vehicles,” who are
their symbols and their associates.
Garuda is considered the vehicle for the
god Vishnu. As Vishnu’s vehicle, Garuda
reflects some of the protective, life-
affirming qualities associated with
Vishnu. Garuda is the son of the sage
Kashyapaand the divine maiden Vinata.
The most famous story associated with
Garuda explains the proverbial antipathy
between eagles and snakes. Vinata has
given birthto a line of eagles, whereas
her sister Kadruhas engendered a line of
serpents. One day the sisters get into an
argument about the tail color of a certain
celestial horse—Vinata argues that it is
white and Kadru asserts that it is black.
They finally agree that the person who is
wrong will become a slave to the other. To
ensure her victory, Kadru persuades a
number of her children to hang from the
back of the horse, which from a distance
makes the white tail appear to be black.
When Vinata sees the black snakes, she
accepts her defeat and has to serve Kadru
under extremely harsh conditions for
many years. When Garuda learns what
has happened, he embarks on an endless
program of killing snakes.Gauda
One of the five northern brahmincom-
munities (Pancha Gauda); the other
four are the Kanaujias, the Maithilas,
the Utkalas, and the Saraswats. Gauda
brahmins are most numerous in the
western half of northern India, particu-
larly in the western parts of the states
of Uttar Pradeshand Madhya Pradesh,
in the state of Haryana, and in the state
of Rajasthan.Gaudapada
(5th c.?) Philosopher and textual
commentator traditionally said to be
the grand-teacher of the philosopher
Shankaracharya. Shankaracharya
maintained that Gaudapada was aGaribdas