The first thing you notice about Devmali, a village in Ajmer district of western Rajasthan, is that everyone lives in houses made of mud. Using cement and bricks, local residents explain, would anger their local deity Devnarayan and bring bad luck. Only he deserves a concrete temple.
"We are all priests of Devnarayan. He lives in a cemented abode. We stay in kutcha (mud) houses. We cannot be equals," says Hira Lal, a retired employee of the state dairy federation who runs a grocery and confectionery shop in the centre of the village located about 400 kilometres southwest of New Delhi.
A couple of residents once defied the custom and built pucca (concrete) houses but had to demolish them after critical illnesses befell their households. After they put up kutcha structures, everyone recovered, he said.
The villagers have lived in mud houses for more than 1,000 years since Devnarayan visited the area and built his temple beneath seven large boulders.
The legend is that Devnarayan, an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, was born in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan in 911 AD to Sadu Mata and Sawai Bhoj, one of the 24 sons of Baghji Gurjar, a man who, according to an epic, had a lion's head. Along with his cousins, Devnarayan avenged the killing of his father and uncles by a chieftain of Ran City.
"Devnarayan built the sanctum sanctorum here. The villagers have only covered it under a building," says Ramkaran Gurjar, chief priest of the temple, pouring ghee onto a flame that is lit next to an upright row of large bricks.
Devnarayan is mainly worshipped in the form of the bricks covered with multi-coloured tinsel. In some places he is also depicted riding a horse.
The only concrete structures in Devmali are those built by the state government. Narendra Kaushik
Perched on top of a conical hill, the temple overlooks the village and one has to climb hundreds of steps to reach it.
All of the agricultural and residential land within the boundaries of Devmali is registered in the name of Devnarayan. "Since no land is registered in our individual names we cannot even seek home loans from banks. Even the sale and purchase of property here is only an exchange of statements made on stamped papers," explains Gajraj Gurjar, a young farmer.
Though his house contains all the other necessities of life -- a refrigerator, fans, cupboards, cooking gas, and windows with grilles -- its walls are covered with mud and the floor has been covered with a paste of soil and cow dung. Its roof -- like the roofs of other houses in the village -- is made up of interlocking clay tiles placed on bamboo poles.
Besides not using cement and bricks in construction, the villagers religiously eschew kerosene, liquor and non-vegetarian food. These three are also believed to incur the wrath of Devnarayan. "If a drunkard ever visits the temple, bees from the beehives above the doorway sting him," asserts the priest, pointing to a beehive.
A family carries fodder to their house in Devmali village. Narendra Kaushik
The village has rarely reported any trouble the police and judiciary. "Nobody has ever gone to a police station or a court for the resolution of a dispute in last 50 years. Our elders have resolved all matters. I hope this continues," says Soji Ram, a farmer who owns half a dozen buffaloes, on the outskirts of Devmali.
The village elders also set the rules for marriages, separations and other ceremonies.
Barring a couple of scheduled caste families, all of Devmali is inhabited by a single Gurjar clan, born of Nada Baba, a Gurjar man who was said to have migrated to the village from another part of Ajmer many years back.
Gurjar is a backward caste in northern India, engaged mainly in agriculture and cattle rearing for milk. Its members have been provided with reserved jobs and education.
The village has not used cement even in the construction of toilets built under the Clean India Mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thereby bringing down the cost considerably. Recently, a posse of bureaucrats from different state governments visited the village to see the kutcha model of the toilet.
It is another matter that nobody in the village makes use of the toilets. They still prefer to defecate in the open. Most of the toilets are used for storing feed for buffaloes, firewood and other goods.
Arjun Lal Verma, an artist from Jaipur, paints sculptures associated with the deity Devnarayan. Narendra Kaushik
Ironically, while the village continues to shun concrete houses and even fears using empty cement sacks, the Rajasthan state government has used modern materials in all of its buildings including a secondary school and a panchayat bhawan (council building) where elected village representatives hold their meetings. Yet no misfortune has befallen it.
Since Devnarayan has an influence over a large part of Rajasthan and northern and central India, the Devnarayan temple in Devmali gets a large number of visitors from various parts of the country. It also receives hefty donations.
It has engaged Arjun Lal Verma, a sculptor and artist from Jaipur, to draw portraits of historical figures associated with the deity in and around the village. Apart from this, a fair is organised in Devmali in September every year.
Devmali is connected to Ajmer by a road that is not in good repair. There are no bus or rail links. Children who wish to obtain higher education have to drive motorbikes to Beawar and Masooda, towns located near the village.
Over the years, many families from the village, particularly those whose members have obtained state government jobs, have migrated to Ajmer, the city famous for its shrine of the Sufi saint Moinuddin Chisti.