During 2006-2008 I undertook a personal project of seeking out and photographing Vetal shrines in Goa that predated the Portuguese colonial era.
The subject interests me, in part because worship of Vetal circumscribes the socio-cultural boundaries of Goa more accurately than the state demarcation on the current map of India. For instance, the people of Sindhudurg, across Goa‘s northern border, have always been regarded as part of the Goan family.
Photography in these rural shrines was a challenge given the sub-optimal lighting conditions and cluttered backgrounds. But my intent was more documentary than aesthetic. In the intervening years since the photos were taken our software tools have vastly improved and it is a pleasure to revisit my old unpublished files.
Vetal is represented by a striking form that is unique in Hindu iconography. In villages hosting a particularly fierce visage of the idol, the American televangelist Pat Robertson would come to my mind and with it a chuckle at his rant that we Hindus are worshippers of the devil.
https://blog.parrikar.com/2020/11/21/the-vetals-of-goa-moolgaon-chopdem-khandepar/