Ravalnath

Ravalnath(Konkani: रवळनाथ, Ravaḷhanāth), also widely known as Roulu, (रवळू, Ravaḷhu) is a popular Hindu god in Goa and the Sindhudurg district of coastal Maharashtra, in western India. Shrines of Ravalnath are also found in border areas of Belgaum and Uttar Kannada districts as well as coastal areas of Karnataka. He is worshipped as the main deity or an affiliate deity in most temples of Goa. He is often associated with the Hindu god Shiva.

Ravalnath is a guardian deity (Kshetrapala) who protects the locality from climatic disasters, witchcraft and snakebites. Ravalnath along with Santeri, Bhumika, Bhutnath and Betal is a popular folk deity worshipped as Gramadevata (village god) in most villages of Goa and Sindhudurg of Maharashtra. ravalnath temple turkewadi on karnataka border village

The origin of word Ravalnath is a matter of conjecture. Mahadevshastri Joshi, derives the word from the word Ruru, who is one of the Ashta Bhairava, eight forms of the god Bhairava - a ferocious aspect of the god Shiva. The iconography of Ravalnath is same as that of Bhairava. According to Shenoi Goembab, the word Raval (from the word Ravalnath) comes from the word Rahulbhadra which was also the personal name of Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna.Rahul was also the name of Buddha's son. As per his view during the Buddhist period, some Buddhist might have come to Goa and the worship of Ravalnath was mainly due to this Buddhist tradition. These views of Shenoi Goembab are not accepted by mainstream scholars. Some other speculations suggested that the word Ravalnath is derived from Tamil word Iravalnath and in Tamil Iraval means begging for alms, and is connected to Bhikṣāṭanamūrti aspect of Shiva. Ravalnath is sometimes considered as one of the three hundred Gaṇas of Shiva.

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