Let me preface this with a disclaimer: these are the observations of a layman; feel free to criticise and disagree at will.
Back in boarding school, my roommate, a Tulu boy, used to have a picture of the gods local to his area. They were a pair of rough spheres containing gigantic eyes. He told me they are referred to as ‘Bhoot’ but were gods, definitely not ghosts. I suppose they had a connection to the Bhoot Kola made famous by the excellent movie Kantara.
The Bhoot Kola itself is a possession ritual performed by lower caste men and reminiscent of African tribal religions
Much later in life I saw these figures again – worshipped in Orissa as Lord Jagannath. The giant eyes placed in a circular setting was unmistakable. Jagannath however is wholly subsumed by the vedic/brahminical form of hinduism, surrounded by priests, bejewelled and receiving regular milk and ghee offerings.
Pockets of Andhra & Telangana too, especially the tribal regions, worship various deities collectively known as Ammoru, typically in the form of a turmeric or vermilion smeared rock with large eyes and a perfunctory mouth.
The implication here is that we see glimpses of a form of god which stretches across peninsular India, probably with a pre-vedic origin. Like the Bhoot Kola, ย Ammoru rituals involve possession, though with added emphasis on flagellation and animal sacrifice.
Pre-Vedic hinduism tends to concentrate on IVC with theories on the Pasupati seal pointing at Shiva’s origins but the eye gods are absent.
The Tamils have their own rituals and deities like Aravan and Murugan who exhibit both Asura/Raksash and Deva qualities, but these are standard forms. The Thaipusam festival has some unique piercing and trance possession, it could have some relation, however the large eyes are absent.
It turns out that two large staring eyes act as a very basic morality hack into the human psyche. Stylized “Kabuki eyes” tend to be posted around Japan as a crime prevention tactic. The effectiveness of this approach is supported by multiple scientific studies across regions and culturesโfor instance: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/putting-eyeballs-billboards-might-help-stop-crime-180956394/
The staring eyes tap into parts of our psyche that are far more primordial than the cognitive parts of our brain. Tigers have white patches on their ears to resemble staring eyes, while moths use them to ward off bird predation. The communication is with the ancient instinctive ‘lizard-brain’. “We are watching”.
Who are these eye gods then? Are they the cultural link to the AASI part of our genetic makeup? At this point I have more questions than answers.
Who are these eye gods then? Are they the cultural link to the AASI part of our genetic makeup?
Yes in my opinion, the first peoples out of Africa
Thovil (for exorcism etc) was quite common among the Sinhalese.
Yaksha and Bootha feature in them.
Video of Thovil
https://youtu.be/nZfarsd6NC8
Thank you, it is very reminiscent of a Bhoot Kola. My understanding is that the Sinhalese were (primarily) from the west coast of India, no surprise that their possession rituals would be very similar.
Aboriginal Australians share some genetic makeup, their icons and gods are very different. The other ancient race, the Andamanese don’t have it either.
I mentioned AASI as tribals tend to have higher proportions, but it could just be that these practices survived better outside the mainstream.
My understanding is that the Sinhalese were (primarily) from the west coast of India
The Sinhalese are a mix of many, including Yaksha and East Coast India (Kalinga). I am quoting from the Mahavamsa. Even the Sri Lankan Tamil kings claime Kalinga ancestry.
Sri Lankans have the highest portion of AASI, higher than some Tribals
note: Origins from West Coast India is a recent fad (1900’s), wanting to be Aryan and thinking they light skinned. Claims not supported by the Mahavamsa, specially Aryan claims.
I see much similarity of Australian Aboriginal Masks to Sinhalese masks used for healing and exorcism and African Masks
https://www.google.com/search?q=australian+aborigine+mask
I thought Japan was an exceptionally low-crime society?
Low crime <> zero crime. Also there are lots of places in Japan where sales are made trusting people to take the product (typically local farmer produce) and leave money in a coin box. Collections improve if you have an eye sticker.
Excellent piece otherwise; I learnt alot.
By the way could the eyes come from the Munda; the northeastern Adivasis rather than IVC?
I don’t think there is any indication at all that IVC comes into this. Nepal has a version of the eyes known as
Buddha Eyes, they are very similar but with a stylized nose too. The dominant form of worship subsumes the old god completely but the image is too fundamental, so that while the name changes the iconography remains. Not familiar with Munda culture I’m afraid.Thank you for the highly informative piece. Enjoyed reading and learning!