01Sixteen arms in black stone
The murti is of black stone, about a metre and a half high, a Durga with sixteen arms, carved in a style close to that of Odisha. The old temple was built of dressed stones locked together without any binding, and the village tradition says that those who tried to alter it suffered for it, so the core was left as it was when the shrine was enlarged. The place was known as Dewri Diri, the sacred stone of Diuri village.
02Pahan and pandit
Few temples show so plainly how the Devi is shared on the Chotanagpur plateau. The Munda Pahan, the village priest, performs the worship on most days, and Brahmin priests on one. Devotees tie red and yellow threads to bamboo poles when they ask for something and come back to untie them when it is granted. Navaratri and Tuesdays bring crowds from Ranchi and Jamshedpur.
On the right of the Ranchi–Tata road near Tamar, about 60 km from Ranchi.
