Almost three decades after German Indologist Gunther Sontheimer took Lord Khandoba — the king of hunters, warriors and shepherds— on to the world map from the mountains of Jejuri near Pune, a student from the same country has chosen to follow the same path.

Fascinated by Sontheimer’s texts and articles spanned over two decades and his study on living folk cultures and traditions of the Hindu civilization, Pablo Marius Holwitt, 25, from Nuensttr in North-West Germany has come down to the small hamlet in Maharashtra to understand the traditions better.

“Khandoba is a very interesting subject. So much has been written about the Lord worldwide, that I decided to get a deeper understanding on him,” said Holwitt, who has chosen Lord Khandoba, local rituals and Navratri-Dusshera festivals as his subjects of study.

One of the main rituals in Jejuri include possessing of the devotees’ bodies called ‘angat yene’ in Marathi and is like a body-trance.

“It’s a unique experience to see the devotees get possessed. I am not questioning if it’s for real or they are acting. The whole act is interesting¿ and, no, I was not frightened,” he said, sharing his experiences in Jejuri. The second part of his study would be about what these rituals mean to the devotees, and it will focus on the divination rituals.

Dr Prakash Khandge, head of Mumbai University’s Department of Performing Folk Arts, who was friends with Sontheimer owing to same research subjects, said it was encouraging to see students like Holwitt as not many student— local or foreigne— study the Lord anymore. “Sontheimer was pioneer in studying Khandoba and starting the trend abroad, following which many researched on Maharashtra. Now there are very few who study the history of the deity,” said Dr Khandge, who is now guiding Holwitt.

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