Domestic Altar of Khandoba and Mhalsa

This miniature bronze altar of the sword wielding deity Khandoba and his consort Mhalsa riding a horse comes from a domestic shrine in Maharashtra. The presence of a dog below the horse indicates that Khandoba is a form of Bhairava who in his iconography is shown with a dog. At the bottom right corner one sees a small linga-yoni symbol indicating the deity’s Shaivaite connection.
Though Khandoba is a popular deity all over Maharashtra and its bordering areas of Karnataka, his main centre of worship is Jejuri, situated between Pune and Mahabaleshwar. He is considered to be the kula devata or patron deity of the farmers, warriors, pastoral communities as well as some of the forest tribes of the region.