Local gods and demons

Although the contemplative elite may deny the real existence of gods and demons together with the rest of phenomenal existence, the majority of Buddhists have preserved indigenous religious beliefs and practices. It has already been noted how Mara, the manifestation of spiritual evil, was presented in the earliest literature in terms of local demonological beliefs.

It is also the case that the early stupas and entrances to cave temples were decorated with local male and female deities (usually referred to as yakshas and yakshinis) who were seen as converted defenders of the new faith. This proved to be a satisfying way of justifying the continuance of the cult of local deities, and it has been employed in varying degrees in every Buddhist land. Thus, there developed a pantheon of minor deities that continued to take in new members wherever Buddhism was established.

The Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions welcomed these local deities and have admitted some of their cults into the liturgies in honour of buddhas and bodhisattvas. Such favoured deities include Mahakala, the great black divinity; the mother goddess Hariti; Kuvera, the god of wealth; and especially Hayagriva, a fierce horse-faced god who is powerful in driving off unconverted demonic forces.

The Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions have also identified local deities as manifestations of various buddhas and bodhisattvas. This process is particularly prominent in Japan, where the identification of buddhas and bodhisattvas with indigenous kami (Japanese: “god” or “spirit”) has included both the great gods (for example, in the identification of the buddha Mahavairochana with the great ancestral Sun goddess, Amaterasu) and the kami of local territories.

In other cases that are equally widespread, local gods and demons have been conquered, converted, and taken into the pantheon or relegated to the periphery (where they may still require propitiation). Perhaps the most interesting example is found in Tibet, where it is commonly believed that Buddhism became established in the 8th century only as the result of the wholesale subjugation of local deities—a subjugation that must, from time to time, be repeated through the performance of rituals marked by their dynamism and ferocity.

In Theravada, Buddhism has had to come to terms with local beliefs. In some cases well-organized pantheons have been built. In Sri Lanka, for example, various local, Hindu, and Buddhist deities hold places within a hierarchy headed by the Buddha himself. In Myanmar the traditional hierarchy of local nats is headed by Thagya Min. Identified with Indra, he becomes a divine protector of Buddhism, who reigns in the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods.

These neatly organized systems, even where they exist, are, however, only a small part of the story. Throughout the various Theravada countries, a wide variety of deities and spirits have been incorporated into the Buddhist world as the inhabitants of particular realms within the Buddhist cosmos or as the guardians of various images, stupas, and temples. At the same time, there are others who, like the demons of Tibet, remain only partially encompassed within the Buddhist domain.

Source

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buddhism/Local-gods-and-demons