Changing Eklingji

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between a Śaiva cult—that of Eklingji—and processes of legitimation in the context of early medieval Rajasthan. It focuses on the multiple strategies of legitimation associated with the Guhilas of Mewar, and explores the complex ways in which the history of the lineage and the cult centre was interwoven. The study shows how the cult and the sacred site acquired different meanings over the early medieval period, and how the heterodox ascetics—the Śaiva Pāśupatas—were displaced by Brahmans after the thirteenth century. These changes are located within the broader cultural, social and political contexts of the seventh to the fifteenth centuries.