life-cycle journeys of Himalayan
women. Songs associated with Nanda
Devi describe the difficulty of going
from her natal home to her marital
home, a reality for many Himalayan
women. In the same way, Nanda Devi’s
pilgrimages, which emphasize journeys
through the hills surrounding the
mountain, imitate the women’s periodic
journeys back to their own natal villages.
A major part of Nanda Devi’s mythology
is the adoption of an abandoned buffalo
calf, which is later discovered to be a
demonin buffalo form. The buffalo
demon grows large and troublesome,
and is eventually slain by Nanda Devi.
This myth parallels the narrative in the
Devimahatmya, the earliest and most
important source for the mythology of
the Goddess; this is the most influential
text used in Nanda Devi’s worship. For
further information on Nanda Devi, her
rites, and her connection with
Himalayan society, see William Sax,
Mountain Goddess, 1991.
Nanddas
(late 16th c.) One of the ashtachap, a
group of eight northern Indian bhakti
(devotional) poets. The compositions of
these eight poets were used for liturgical
purposes by the Pushti Marg, a religious
community whose members are devo-
tees (bhakta) of Krishna. In the Pushti
Marg’s sectarian literature, all eight are
also named as members of the commu-
nity, and as associates of either the com-
munity’s founder, Vallabhacharya, or
his successor, Vitthalnath. Very little is
known about his life, but he is men-
tioned in the Bhaktamal, a collection of
lives of the saints written by Nabhadas
in the seventeenth century. Like all the
poetry associated with the Pushti Marg,
Nanddas’s poetry focused on devotion
to Krishna. His two most important
works, written in elegant poetry, are
extended poems on the ras lilaand
Uddhava’s message. Both of these
themes date back to the Bhagavata
Purana(10th c.?), the most important
text for Krishna devotionalism. These
have been translated by R. S. McGregor,
The Round Dance of Krishna and
Uddhav’s Message, 1973.Nandi
(“joy,” “delight”) Epithet of the animal
vehicle of the god Shiva, which takes the
form of a bull. Like all of the animal
vehicles, it symbolizes the deity. Nandi
is not only Shiva’s vehicle, but his devo-
tee (bhakta). Statues of Nandi are often
sculpted outside Shiva temples (usually
facing the image) as a way of marking
the site as sacred to Shiva. He appears in
many places in Shiva’s mythology, but
usually as a devoted underling advanc-
ing Shiva’s purposes, rather than an
independent agent with a purpose and
ends of his own.Nandigrama
In the Ramayana, the earlier of the two
great Hindu epics, Nandigrama is a vil-
lage outside the city of Ayodhya, where
Prince Bharatasets up the royal courtNanddas
Statue of Nandi, the bull who is the god
Shiva’s vehicle.