Who Moves the Deity? Mechanics, Participation, and Attributed Agency in Himalayan Rath Carrying

Abstract

People carry ritual palanquins, or raths, while describing themselves as following a deity's movement. This study combines western Himalayan ethnography, motor-control research and synthetic mechanics to explain how practical contribution and attributed agency relate. It distinguishes knowing a destination, preparing for a load change, influencing local movement and attributing an episode's purpose. An oracle-mediated travel proposal connects divine initiative to practical responsibility; accounts of rehearsal, shoulder adjustment, upright carrying and a narrated return identify distinct forms of participation. Using assumed parameters and prescribed shoulder motions, a two-support model separates heave from roll, and a four-contact walking extension adds pitch. The extension demonstrates substantial changes in individual loads with negligible rocking and shows how pitch and contact opening affect load sharing. A worked comparison with an upright-carrying account explains how visible posture can conceal changing support. These findings connect ritual authority, bodily preparation and local physical influence while specifying evidence that distinguishes guidance, anticipation, correction and retrospective interpretation. The resulting account treats following as an organised form of participation: people can sustain and adjust a movement while attributing its initiative and purpose to the deity.

arXiv comment29 pages, 4 figures