Of course, it is difficult to corroborate. What is interesting, however, is that the folklore speaks of an incomplete marriage

Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik

Around the Holi festival, a great celebration is held in the region around Jodhpur for a male deity called Eloji, who is depicted in a state of complete sexual arousal. The erect phallus is worshipped and paraded through the streets. Many believe he is a fertility deity, perhaps once venerated by the ancient Hunas, who settled in the region during the post-Gupta period after 500 AD.

Since the festival takes place around Holi, there is at least one folklore narrative which says that Eloji was the husband of Holika, who was summoned on the wedding night by her brother Hiranyakashyap to kill his son Prahalad. That did not go well, as Prahalad was protected by........

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