Kundism

Kundism is followed by the Deori, a Tibeto-Burman people of Sadiya and the upper Brahmaputra valley. It takes its name from Kundi-Mama, the supreme deity, the Old Ones who are the father Kundi-Gira and the mother Kundi-Girasi together.

Their children are Pisa-Dema, also called Baliya-Baba, and the goddess Pisasi, known as Tamreswari or Kechai-khaiti. Worship, animist and ancestral, centres on sacred groves and clan rituals, without idols.

Deori tradition ties the faith to the Chutia kings. The goddess took the form of a huge stone in the Dibang River, and four Chutia men who prayed to her made it light enough to carry to her temple; the king made them priests, forefathers of the four Deori clans. The Burmese invasions of 1817 to 1826 later killed or carried off many Deori.