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Ravalnath(, ), also widely known as Roulu, (रवळू, ) 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 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.〔 ==Etymology== The origin of word Ravalnath is a matter of conjecture. Mahadevshastri Joshi, derives the word from the word , 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 aspect of Shiva.〔 Ravalnath is sometimes considered as one of the three hundred ' of Shiva. The cult of Ravalnath is supposed to have been influenced by Nathism; it is suggested that Nath cult absorbed Ravalnath as suggested by the suffix ''nath''. The earliest inscription referring to Ravalnath, called ''Ravaluba'', is dated to the Hoysala period. In another inscription from Goa, Ravalnath is referred to as ''Ravaloba'' as well as ''Ravaleshwar''. Southern Silaharas, who ruled North Goa and the present Sindhudurg and part of Ratnagiri district and Kadambas of Goa, were devotees of Shiva. However, references to Ravalnath are not found either in Silaharas or Kadamba inscriptions. There are a two inscriptions in Nagari script and from ''Velus'' village of Sattari taluka referring to Ravalnath from Vijayanagara period.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ravalnath」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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