Hindu folk deity of Rajasthan
Ramdev
Ramdev, also known as Ramsha Pir, is a popular Hindu deity venerated mainly in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Considered an avatar of Krishna, he is remembered for his miracles and for protecting the poor and oppressed.
The myth
According to regional tradition, the childless King Ajmal Tanwar sought an heir at Dwarka. After diving into the submerged city, he met Krishna, who granted him a son, and so Ramdev was born in Ramdevra, Jaisalmer. He believed all people were equal and granted the wishes of the oppressed; he is credited with twenty-four miracles.
Some accounts tell of five Sufi pirs from Mecca who tested his powers. When they declined his invitation to lunch, saying they ate only from their own bowls, Ramdev summoned those vessels through the air, and the pirs paid him homage. He died in samadhi at the age of thirty-three.
Worship and religion
His main shrine at Ramdevra holds his tomb, the samadhis of his disciples and of five pirs, beside the Parcha Bawdi step-well. He is often shown on horseback, serves as ishta devata of the Meghwal community, and is honoured with fairs across Rajasthan.
Legacy
He composed bāņīs, verbal poems that his follower Swami Gokuldas later gathered in the Baba Ramdev Chaubis Praman.