Veer Teja

Who is Veer Teja?

Veer Teja or Tejaji was legendary Rajasthani folk hero. He is considered one of the major eleven incarnations of Lord Shiva and worshipped as a deity in rural Rajasthan. Teja's legend is that of a young man, striving for respect and recognition, who is willing to sacrifice everything in order maintain tribal conceptions of honour. There are a number of different variations to the Teja legend as recounted by different bards and priests. However there are five main elements to the legend that are included in most stories:

Teja's marriage in infancy with an infant girl from a neighbouring clan, a barter marriage, which involved his sister being given in marriage to his infant wife's cousin

Teja setting off an a perilous journey to fetch his wife from her parents home in response to a taunt by his sister-in-law

Teja risking his life to protect the cows of a lower caste woman from bandits, this is a revolutionary aspect of the legend.

Teja bravely fulfilling a vow to a snake at the cost of his own life

Teja's wife and his sister being burned to death at his funeral pyre in the ritual of Sati

As per anthropologists, Teja's cult is a non-Brahmanical cult that includes an element of protest against the caste system. Even today a person from the Mali caste is the chief priest of Teja's temple.